The Mare in the Warp
by Wendy Gowak
Summary: It's the 41st Millenium and the Empress Celestia watch on a imperium in perpetual war. Twilight Sparkle, one of her most faithful Equustodes stumble upon a prophecy that could change the fate of the whole galaxy. Will she be able to protect the empire from a war like the Imperium had not seen since the Great Heresy? More of an AU than a crossover. Rated M for obvious reasons.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer** : I do not own My Little Pony : Friendship is Magic nor Warhammer 40.000  
If i did, I'd be rich, happy and Ô so very proud of myself. I'm just borrowing from them in hope to make people have a good time. But we all know that, I am just saying this because I'm somehow supposed to.

**Note** : Hello dear reader. This is it... my first big story. And I chose something easy to start. A crossover between two universe with nothing in common! This will be fun. Or a pain in the ass... Still I hope you enjoy it. I'll try my best to update it regularly on the weekend. So... without further ado... the beginning of the story and the absolutely necessary "It is the 41st Millenium..." introduction!

The art is by Nathan2000  
Check him out!

* * *

**THE MARE IN THE WARP**  
**Prologue**

It is the 41st millennium.

For more than an hundred centuries, the Empress has watched upon the pony Imperium from the throne of Canterlot. She his the master of of ponykind by divine essence and the mistress of a million worlds by the might of her inexhaustible armies. She is a living goddess carried by both magic and Dark Age technology. Every days, thousands give their life to preserve the power of the almighty Empress.

Yet even through her glory, she must be ever vigilant. Mighty battle fleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Empress' will. Vast armies give battle in her name on uncounted worlds. Greatest among his soldiers are the Adeptus Horsetartes, the Space Mares, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Legio Equustodes, personal body guards and disciple of the Empress, the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defence forces, the ever vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanequus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants - and worse.

To be a pony in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. To live on the verge of tyranny in hope of a never coming better future. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of magic and harmony, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only the promise of more wars and the laughter of thirsting gods. 

* * *

**Planet Canterlot, third planet of the Solar System, centre of the Pony Imperium**  
**Imperial Palace surroundings, near the Adeptus Equustodes barracks**

The streets of Canterlot were busy as always. Even so close to the imperial palace, there were still thousands of citizens trying to have an audience with the Empress, trying to get passed the Administratum army of clerks and bureaucrats. Yet Spike knew that it could be far worse. In other planets, they were hundreds of millions. And he had seen the outskirts of the imperial city. Scary how a line could become a town... A shiver went through his spine at the thought. He quickly dismissed it and focused on the task at hand. Lady Twilight had summoned him... and he had to pay a visit to a friend. The dragon kept going, lost in his thoughts, closing on his destination.

The Equustodes quarters where somewhat out of place in the great imperial city. Amidst the exuberant and richly decorated temples and offices, the small functional barrack looked almost bare, despite its golden wall and the statues of heroes kneeling before the glorious Empress in front of the entrance. But its residents knew better. They were the chosen children of the Empress, created and devoted to her protection. Those four, heavily defended, walls delimited a sacred ground, as much as any temple on the galaxy. They were Equustodes, the Empress champions and protectors, they earned it by birthright and the blood spilled on the battlefield. This was as sacred as any relic and they were proud of it. No sculptor, no architect would ever be good enough to put it into a building or a statue.  
The interior of the building was as martial as one could expect. Two guards stood at each doors, unmoving and threatening, living statues in stature and posture. Dozens of the elite warriors lived here, whenever the Princess didn't need their services, should it be in the Palace or around the expanding Imperium, and every second of their time, save for the few hours they occasionally needed to sleep or eat, were dedicated to make them better, worthier, and most of them trained or meditated to hone their already impressive martial skills and willpower.

Twilight Sparkle was not one of them. She understood the value of training, she did her share with compliance and enthusiasm, but she was not contempt with it. Something in her ached for knowledge and she could never resist the urge to consult the immense library deep under the building, holding some of the most hidden secrets of the Imperium. The time her kin spent bonding and improving their mutual experience, she spent between bookshelves, learning about the early age of the Imperium, on the few secrets of the Warps that she could safely learn, on the entities that reigned on the fringe of the galaxy... And today, the genetically enhanced mare had the opportunity to do all at once.

The book in her hooves was ancient, antediluvian even. Its covers were bare at the exception of the front, decorated with a silver unicorn sigil. Its content was so old most of the information inside would have been deemed heretical should have them been printed nowadays. Yet the data were too valuable for Twilight to dismiss. What she had found a few hours ago was an antique and original historical record from the Early Imperium... and most of all, an interesting one. Too often the one that were accessible were old Administratum records with little to no interest. But not this one. It was a report of various crisis having affected the Canterlot system itself with an heavy emphasis on one particular event : the Nightmare Night crisis.

Twilight knew the legends. It was said that in the last days of the Great Heresy, the Warmistress had a deadly fight with the Empress which ended with her victory upon the traitor. It was good enough for the common pony, to keep them hopeful and productive while reminding them the power of the throne, but to anyone having faced the force of Chaos first hand, it was just a necessary propaganda. This first hand copy just confirmed the suspicions she never dared to express aloud. However, the original story seemed way more interesting than she would have believed. One passage had retained her attention more than the rest of the story however. In the report, the Empress had used a powerful weapon to get rid of the Heretics assaulting the planets, including the Warmistress : the Elements of Harmony. Yet, there was no mention of such a weapon in any books of her knowing, and that covered a lot of books. The fact that such an asset would go forgotten was troubling. She had been looking for any clues about it for hours now and she had started to form some good hypothesises, but she would need more sources and more data to go on.

Steps on the stone floor interrupted her train of thoughts. She did not need to check to know to whom they belong ; they were obviously footstep and that tended to eliminate most of possibilities; but she did it anyway. As expected a small purple and green dragon stood next to here, an inquisitive look on his face. Un

"Right in time, Spike," started the unicorn, returning to her books. "I need you to fetch some books for me..."  
"Huh... sure, Twilight, -" Spike tiptoed a moment before he dared to continue is sentence. "- right after we go to Moon Dancer funerals right?"  
"Oh Spike don't be silly!" she dismissed absent-mindedly. "We don't have time for this sort of thing. Now could you find me a copy of _Predictions and Prophecies_? Also the books related to the legend of the Mare in the Warp please?"  
"The Mare in the Warp?" he answered, his body moving on his own to obey his mistress. "But that's just filly's scare story..."  
"I don't think so. Not anymore anyway. I have a feeling there's more to the legend than we were led to believe..."  
Spike opened his mouth to retort, then resigned himself with a sigh. There was no talking to Twilight when she was in that mood. The dragon serf quickly disappeared between the shelves. "I'll see you later Moon Dancer," he thought with a hint of guilt. "It's not like you're going anywhere anyway..."

Twilight returned to her reading and theories. She was on the verge of a breakthrough, she just knew it. 

* * *

A few days later.

* * *

One would think finding the date, or at least a very close approximation, of a very rare incoming astronomic event based on a few legends and poorly dated historical events would be a difficult task. Let alone discovering the existence of said event based on a few myths and prophecies. But one would not have access to an imperial library, nor an extensive memory on everything book-related driven by an extraordinary focus. Thus is was not surprising that it took only a few days for Twilight to find the answers she was looking for. They were not reassuring.

"Spike?" she called, "Write a message to the Throne. Use my accreditation codes."  
The dragon nodded and took a antique piece of velum and a quill out of his .

_Beloved Empress,_

_Please forgive my boldness, but my researches in ancient lores, warp magic and historical battles have led me to believe that we're on the brink of a catastrophe._  
_If my calculations are correct, the Warmistress and part of her armies that were previously defeated and exiled in the Warp should come back in a matter of weeks, if not days._  
_I humbly suggest that the highest defence protocols should be put into place as quickly as possible._

_I eagerly await your orders._  
_Your faithful Equustode,_  
_Twilight Sparkle._

After a quick check of her serf work, she nodded in approval and let him send the letter through his magic.

"Are you sure this is okay?" the dragon asked.  
"Of course," she said with unwavering confidence. "In all my years of service, I've never done anything but do my best for the Empress. I've been her most loyal citizen, guard and student. She know I wouldn't send her such a note without reason. She will consider my words."

She had no sooner finished her sentence than a big, rolled up sealed parchment blurted out of Spike's mouth in a green flame. A knowing grin draw itself on the mare face. The dragon took the letter, and with his Lady approval, unsealed it and begin its lecture.

_**TO : EQUUSTODE TWILIGHT SPARKLE**_  
_**FROM : THRONE OF CANTERLOT**_

_**YOUR MESSAGE WAS RECEIVED AND ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE EMPRESS. AS USUAL, YOUR DILIGENCE AND THOROUGHNESS DOES YOU CREDIT, AND THE EMPRESS GREATLY VALUE THE INFORMATIONS YOU BROUGHT AND THE EFFORTS NEEDED TO PUT THEM TOGETHER. SHE WILL PONDER UPON IT AND ACT ACCORDINGLY IN TIME.**_

_**HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT THE TIME YOU SPEND IN THE LIBRARY AND THE TOMES YOU HAVE CONSULTED. YOU ARE ASKED TO RETHINK THE WAY YOU SPEND YOUR TIME. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER; GUARD IT WELL.**_

_**AS A REWARD FOR YOUR DEDICATION, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO CHECK THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DEFENCE SYSTEM OF PV-01, IN THE PONYVILLE SECTOR. MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE EFFICIENT. A LIST OF THE PONY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE PLANETARY DEFENCE WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU PRIOR TO DEPARTURE, IN EIGHTEEN HOURS. FOR THE DURATION OF YOUR MISSION, YOU WILL COLLABORATE WITH THEM AND ASSUME A POSITION OF LEADERSHIP IF NEED BE.**_

_**MAY THE EMPRESS LIGHT ALWAYS BE WITH YOU.**_  
_**SUCCESS IS COMMEMORATED; FAILURE MERELY REMEMBERED.**_

There was a minute of uncomfortable silence. The Monitor knew his mistress could not feel good about it, and he didn't need to look at her to know that her pride should have taken a serious blow. "Well at least she considered your words..." he tried.

Twilight grunted half-heartedly.


	2. Chapter 01 - Ponyville

**THE MARE IN THE WARP  
Chapter I - Ponyville**

**Immaterium,**  
**Frigate _Spes Reliquus_**

In a small ship speeding through the Immaterium, a lavender Equustode was dissatisfied.  
And three combat servitors were paying for the euphemism. A combat stick passed right where the mare's head was a second ago. Her training staff, glowing with the lavender aura of her magic, whirled rapidly toward the lobotomised earth pony shin, sending him flying. The staff continued its motion, deflecting a blow that aimed at her flanks, sending the weapon away. Continuing its rotations, the staff flew under her to kick the front hooves of her third and last opponent. He managed to avoid it, trying a kick with both of his forehooves. The kicks missed the moving mare by too much to be considered anything but a desperate attempt, and only made him more vulnerable to the next attack. The staff whirled once again, vertically this time, hitting his flanks, hard, and pinning him on the ground.

The combat had lasted less than a minute.

The weapon hovered slowly to Twilight side. "Again," she demanded flatly. "Three hits this time, and raise the level to lethal."

The three ponies stood up and took back their stick. As they did not feel pain nor fatigue (which in this case was fortunate), they would comply, or at least try to do so, until their bodies were utterly ruined.

They readied themselves, sticks firmly held in their mouths. Their empty glares fixed the unmoving mare, looking for openings. A small nod of the Equustode marked the start of the fight. They slowly began to circle around their prey, using her blind spots to prepare their offensive.

They attacked as one, aiming for vital spots and confining the movements of the unicorn in the most efficient way possible. There was a flash of raw magic when Twilight teleported away from the sticks. There was another flash when she reappeared behind one of her foe. She hit both hind limbs with her staff, making him fall before he could kick her, then, using his left leg as a pivot, she made the staff turn to break his left foreleg. The stallion fell one the floor.  
"One."

The two remaining serfs charged her, trying to submerge her with a vicious flurry of blows. Twilight used the reach of her staff to contain the assault, waiting for an opportunity to strike. It happened when one of the serf fell into one of her feint. The stallion broke off to hit her leg, forcing his ally to change his pace. That was enough for the unicorn. She quickly deflected the attack, and disappeared in a flash. Her foe readied himself for another attack from behind, kicking hard, in hope of touching, even stopping the elusive opponent. But there was no flash of light behind him and thus no unicorn. Twilight Sparkle didn't even bothered to attack. She just let herself fall on the stallion from the ceiling where she had teleported. The stallion's back made a painful sound as she landed on him. Three blows wouldn't be needed.  
"Two."

There was a quick movement behind the Spacemare, and she barely reacted in time to avoid to be hit. The last serf was using her last move against her. Standing on fer last victim ruined her hooving and dodging the stick in this condition became way more perilous. The servitor knew it well and pressed his advantage making sure the mare was pinned on her position, forcing her to expose herself to leave. It was Codex tactic. She knew it by heart. Yet here she was, stick and hooves passing dangerously close to her leaving her not time to concentrate for an elaborate spell such as teleportation. The unicorn was seriously rethinking some of her recent decisions... 

* * *

"How hard can it be to find the training room?"

Spike was standing in front of an empty meditation room. So far, it has been the fifth. Twilight had sent him to the spaceship's armoury fetch her stuff and now he was lost. For a warpship, this vessel was small. Way smaller than the Equustodes quarters for instance. Quarters that Spike knew better than most of its residents. So how come he could get lost HERE?

"How many of these room are there?" he asked for the fourth time. The dragon closed the door, and went to the next one. "As they say, ten's the charm..." he said as he opened yet another meditation room. "Or eleven is, I suppose..." he sighed.

The sound of a resounding magic explosion stopped him as he was about to open the seventh meditation room. He had known Twilight long enough to recognise the sound of her magic, even in this fiery form.

"I guess eleven really is the charm!" he said to himself as he ran toward the sound. 

* * *

"Three" Twilight uttered between catching breath.

The three servitors were now laying in various places of the room, as far of the mare as the place permitted, in painful looking positions. Two of them would have to go under surgery to be able to serve again. The last one would probably be reaffected to more menial tasks. A pang of guilt struck the unicorn as the frustration partially left her body. The baseless violence was one thing (that she was not proud of), but carelessness was something she could not allow herself to fall into.  
So lost she was in her self castigation that she didn't hear the Dragon enter the room.

"Gee! Should I call more battle serfs?"- he asked, carefully unloading his mistress power armour on a table in a corner of the room -"I think those did not survive your rightful wrath." he added, with sightly more emphasis that was permitted on the last two words.  
"I am not angry," the Equustode responded dryly.  
The dragon cocked an eyebrow. "If you say so," he answered wryly.  
There was no use to lie to Spike. And to herself. "Okay. I may be a little dissatisfied with our current situation," she admitted.  
"Dissatisfied?" repeated the dragon with a glance to one of the combat serf.  
"Okay, I'm frustrated!" she finally conceded. "This whole situation is getting on my nerves!" - her hoof hit the metallic ground soundly - "We should be preparing for the return of the Warmistress, not supervising some isolated Spacemares in a forgotten sector!"  
There. It was said. There was nothing more to add. Spike knew how much it should have shaken his Lady confidence and that there was nothing he could really do about it. But that didn't mean he shouldn't try. "Look on the bright side Twilight! You get full access to the library. You will basically live there."  
The mare stayed silent a moment, lost in her thoughts. Then a mischievous grin slowly formed on her face "You know Spike, you're right."  
This was a reaction he had not foreseen."I am?"  
"Absolutely!" Her mood seemed way better all of sudden. "Once I have checked the defences of the place, I will have plenty of time to verify my hypothesises and prepare for the resurgence."  
"Hum... what about the Spacemares you were supposed to command?"  
"I am supposed to be in charge, I can just ask them to stay there while I do something else." she calmly stated. "I have better things to do than chaperon a bunch of grunts."

Spike opened his mouth, looking for words... but a sudden change in the lighting indicated them that they were about to leave the Immaterium. hat they were a few hours away from their destination. The dragon shook his head and let the subject die. There was no talking to her when she was in this mood anyway. At least she felt better about this mission.

"If you say so Twilight..." he capitulated sightly unsatisfied. "Since we're arriving soon, do you want me to help you don your armour?"  
"I would like that very much Spike," she answered warmly. 

* * *

As they left the Warp, Twilight Sparkle, now clad in her golden artificer armour, had at last the opportunity to see the system for herself. It was small; one of the smallest of the sector in fact. Only two planets, PV-00 and PV-01 orbited the pale young red star. The first one, a bluish gas giant called PV-00, had nothing to offer. Its only noticeable feature was a heavy rocky satellite, a former planetoid of the system trapped in the gravitational pull of the giant, with an orbit almost perpendicular to the rotation of its planet. The satellite was filled with jungles and a wild and untamed fauna that had resisted colonisation so far. Those familiar with the sector poetically called it "the Everfree Forest", which was better than its official name, PV-00aCS01FPoV03.  
PV-01, or simply Ponyville, since no other planet was worth stealing the title, was barely more interesting at first glance. It was a small canterlotian planet like there was billions in the galaxy, it was weakly populated, not really rich, except for the gems and precious stones that were abundant, and it military force, while sufficient for such a region, was not as impressive as its neighbours. PV-01 had one resource worth mentioning that made it valuable to the Empire. Despite its size it had a tremendous capacity to produce food. The ponies of the region produced a thirteenth of the food of this part of the sector and with its close proximity to Canterlot and direct road toward it, it had become sort of a strategic asset.  
War vessels often patrolled the area, and the Empress herself sometimes sent some of her mares to check on its defences. However, despite all this, the system was almost forgotten. The Imperium was looking toward the other end of the galaxy, and with centuries passing, the planet and its benefits had been progressively overlooked.

Of course, Twilight knew all this. There was an entire shelve dedicated about this system, but she couldn't help but feel like the planet was not worth her time; and seeing it up close under the weak light of a pathetic sun only made it worse. Why was she here? As the bulky vessel pummelled its way through the thick atmosphere, the genetically-engineered mare couldn't help but think about it. Truth to be told, she had a hard time NOT to think about it. Why was she here? Did she upset the Empress by contacting her directly? This had never been a problem before... Not that she did it frequently. Did she accidentally touch a sensitive subject? Was the book and its stories of heretical nature? Had she been put in trial without her knowledge? Did her curiosity finally got the best of her? Maybe she should have sent the book directly to the Imperial Archivist to make sure she could access its content... What if it was written by Heretics to tempts the weak minded? Or worse, written but the Inquisition to test the faith of the closest guards of the Empress? Was it a test? And if so, had she failed it? She had to... this explained her situation. Or maybe she had to show how she could handle this kind of situation? Was it already too late for her, or had the struggle just begun?

"If only the Empress could give me guidance..." she thought as the vessel approached the planetary spatioport.

* * *

The administrative formalities took a precious amount of her time.  
The planetary governor, a wheat-furred, grey-manned mare fatefully named Mayor Mare, insisted that a ceremony was in order. The dense, small (and only) town of the planet did rarely catch the attention of the Imperium and even less so in such an official and half-godlike fashion. Twilight had to use even the Empress given authority to finally get rid of her.

"I hope I don't get to deal with this kind of nonsense again," she sighed as she left the building, "I really want to end this quickly."  
"Don't worry about it, my Lady." cheered Spike. "You know how civilian are when they see us. I'm sure you'll feel better around other soldiers."  
"I really hope you're right..." she said, half-convinced. "What's the first Mare on the list?"  
The modified mind of the dragon found the answer almost instantly."The first pony we have to meet is called Applejack, Earth Pony, responsible for the defences on the ground," he statued. "She's likely in the planetary defence force barrack, supervising the Dulce Pomum Battalion."  
"Good. Let's not waste any more time."

With a small nudge of the head, Twilight indicated her escort, a very imposing pink stallion, to lead them to their destination. The soldier made a quick salute and began to lead Twilight and Spike to the barracks. They walked in the town in silence, walking among the empty roads that cut into the dense habitation, the soldier only answered the attempts of communication with monosyllables, grunts and nods of acknowledgement and dismissal. Twilight didn't really care. In fact she preferred it that way; the lack of interaction let her think of ways to micro-manage her stay. Spike however was getting increasingly frustrated.

"I asked your name soldier!" he asked angrily for the umpteenth time as for the umpteenth time, the soldier just pointed the roll number on his chest.  
The sudden burst made Twilight break off her musing. She rolled her eyes as she intervened to help the dragon. "Come on soldier, just humour him," she asked calmly.  
"Pain Keeper, Lady Sparkle," the guard said with a surprisingly soft voice.  
"See, Spike? It wasn't that hard," she teased.  
"That's easy to say when you're the genetically-engineered space pony with a power armour..."  
"I think it was a simple sentence with quite basic intonations. I am pretty sure that even an humble dragon Monitor could do it." Her tone was colder than usual.

Spike took it as a cue to keep quiet. Twilight made as if nothing happened. The Equustode relation with her serf was closer than what was normally expected (some would even say "tolerated"). Still she had to remind him the position he was in, especially in public, for both his sake and hers. She hated that she had to do that, but it was better than having the dragon lobotomised. Twilight glanced at Pain Keeper, checking his reaction, only to catch him staring at her and Spike. He quickly turn his glaze away once he realised he'd been seen. The guard said nothing of the little banter but Twilight caught him staring at her and Spike quite a few time after that. She was about to confront him about it, when he suddenly stopped.

"We have arrived," he said with a salute.

Twilight looked he the direction he faced to see a very military looking building. While not as imposing as the Equustodes quarters, the PDF garrison was very efficiently designed. Twilight had to admit this was a very impressive work. Heavy sets walls; disposed to fend of attackers and force them out of cover; and an impressive set of auto-turrets protected the perimeter as ponies on guard duty completed the surveillance from the parapets. And that was only the outer layers. She was guessing heavy cannons, energy shields and lots more surprises inside. Completed with the heavy air force that navigated above her head, this was really satisfying. If the rest of the place was as well defended, her work would be done in a breath.

A smile illuminated Twilight's face. She turned around to thank the guard. "Thank you -" she began as she realised that her guide had disappeared "- Pain Keeper?". She looked around and saw nopony. "Pain Keeper? Have you seen him, Spike?" she asked.  
"Nuh uh..." dismissed Spike.  
"That's strange... I think we should investigate," she declared. "Or at least mention him to the Intelligence ponies," she added when she remember her own schedule.  
"Is this really worth it?"  
"A suspicious mind is a healthy mind, Spike," chastised Twilight. "Don't forget it."  
"I will not, my Lady," he said with a sly grin.  
The unicorn rolled her eyes and allowed herself a smile. "Let's go Monitor, we are awaited." 

* * *

**Planet Canterlot**  
**Imperial Palace, Throne of Canterlot**

Sat on a throne made of gold, lost technologies and spells forbidden and forgotten, a goddess was lost into her thoughts. Around her, unicorns where channelling their powers into her, permitting her to illuminate the Warp. Every minutes or so, one of them would die and another would be sent in their place. There was a time when this would have made her react. But a few weeks of this had desensitized her. Millennium had made the scene into even less than white noise and background images. More ponies died every seconds on countless battlefields to ensure the safety of her empire anyway.  
Today however, the alicorn was particularly aloof. Thoughts of the past had came back to haunt her. Thoughts of her and her closest soldiers... friends... sisters in battle. Especially one. One that could once claim those titles more rightly than anyone.

"Warmistress... why?" she uttered in a breath. "Why?" 

* * *

From her spot, Celestia could see her worlds burn. She had spread war upon countless planets for the sake of her empire, for the sake of ponykind, and now said empire was torn apart because she could not contain the most efficient weapon she had.  
The deep blue, star-maned aforementioned weapon stared at her with a space-cold stare. Nothing remained of the love she once had for "her Empress". Now only resent, contempt and hatred filled her soul, and they were all pointed toward the white alicorn.

"Why?" whispered Celestia.  
"Don't you dare play ignorant with me Celestia," snarled the Warmistress. "You brought this on yourself."  
"Why?" she repeated. The hurt was still in her voice as she spoke.  
"Stop this charade, 'Empress', your time has come."

Two magenta eyes slowly rose, leaving entire systems consummated by the flames of war, to stare into the the turquoise reptilian eyes of the Warmistress.

"Why?" she demanded, her voice now devoid of weakness.

There was a second of silence. For an instant, the Warmistress was once again in front of her Empress. The respect she once had... the admiration, the sheer devotion came back, like a balm on her crushed pride. But she was too far gone. The feeling only made the pain greater when it came back. It only fuelled her rage to even higher levels.

"YOU WANT TO MAKE ME BELIEVE YOU DON'T KNOW?!" she shrieked, powerful waves of energy cracking around her every couple of words. "YOU DARE? YOU BETRAYED US! YOU BETRAYED ME! ALL MY LIFE I SERVED YOU! I SERVED THE IMPERIUM NIGHTS AND DAYS! I GAVE MY LIFE FOR PONYKIND AND WHAT DO I GET? DISGRACE! SHAME! UNGRATEFULNESS! I WAS YOUR MOST LOYAL MARE! AND YOU BETRAYED ME! AND NOW YOU WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS!"  
"I never betrayed you... I would never..."  
"ENOUGH! I know now. You don't deserve to rule. I will do what you never could. I will conquer the galaxy in the name of the Old Gods and burn any mention of your name of History. I will erase you." The emphases each word by kicking her hoof on the ground.  
"Don't... I do not want to kill you. Stop this folly. There is still a place for you in the Imperium. Stop this madness now!"  
"You can't stop me. You're weak and a fool. Now die!" 

* * *

The scream of a unicorn, consummate by their magic and the call of the Warp made the Empress snap out of her daydream. The smell of burned fur and flesh hit the nostrils of the Empress. The unicorn must have been in one of the front rows. Two Equustodes came to get rid of the fuming corpse while another pair brought their replacement. For a second, Celestia asked herself if her lack of focus caused this.

The thought died quicker than it had arisen. She didn't even care.  
Millenniums around the dead would do that.

NOTE :  
Things are slowly getting into place. Be patient.

_"The enemies of the Empressfear many things._  
_They fear discovery, defeat, despair and death._  
_Yet there is one thing they fear above all others._

_**They fear the wrath of the Space Mares!"**_

_**\- Unknown**_


	3. Chapter 02 - The Spacemares

Author's note :  
Sooooo... I'm one week late... Sorry about that. Lots of stuffs to do, trying to write several things at the same time and some good ol' procrastination to make sure I won't publish anything in the end...  
But you've waited enough my (two) faithful followers. Let's do this.

* * *

**THE MARE IN THE WARP**  
**Chapter 2 - The Spacemares**

* * *

Twilight explored the barrack with an appreciative look.  
For such a small system, it was pretty well kept. The ponies looked ready, the defence was solid and the equipment, while not recent, was very efficiently used. It wasn't big but it was an impressive piece of work.  
"Remind me the name of the mare, Spike." she demanded.  
"Responsible for the ground forces, Sargent Applejack," he responded instantly.  
"Good. Let's find this Applejack."

They found her in the training ground. As a Spacemare, she was unmistakable. Her heavy stature, powerful musculature and sheer aura of strength easily set the orange soldier apart from her ponies. Twilight took a second to study her. Her long (and quite not Codex-conform Twilight noted internally) blond mane in a ponytail, held by a red (and still not Codex-conform) ribbon engraved with runes Twilight could not decipher but recognised at the symbols used by some of the Space Timberwolves. The same runes were present on her old mark III greyish power armour and on her yellow shoulder plate and Twilight suspected that even more were hidden behind the myriad of honorary titles and decoration that adorned her attire.  
The Spacemare was busy inspecting the disassembled parts of a heavy bolter and thus, didn't see the unicorn inspecting her. Twilight checked attentively the earth pony work, critically, silently testing her skill. The inspection last a few minutes before Applejack expertly reassembled the weapon. "Flawless," mentally acknowledged Twilight.

"Salutation."- Twilight put her hoof on her chest, -"I'm Equustode Twilight Sparkle. Sargent Applejack I presume?"  
The mare replied with the strong accent of the fringe worlds : "That Ah am. It's an honour to meet ya," she said imitating the gesture. "The D.P. Battalions welcome ya. How can Ah be of service Twilight?"  
"Thank you. I have been sent to inspect the planetary defence for the Empress. I was told you're in charge of the troops on the ground?"  
"Ah sure am."  
"Good. I will need a complete report on the state of the ground forces."  
"Sure," she said as she attached the heavy weapon to its strap on her collar. "Just follow me Sugarcube."

Both Twilight and Spike stopped at the nickname. The dragon knew better than to laugh, but the face of his Lady at the present moment made it pretty tempting. Twilight knew that not all Spacemares lived by the Codex (even she sometimes made exceptions) and Applejack was clearly not one of them. But this was not tolerable.

Applejack seemed to notice that her guests didn't move and turned to face them. "Is something the matter?" she asked with concern.  
"How did you call me?" asked Twilight with an undecipherable tone.  
Realising what seemed to be the problem, Applejack smiled, trying to show she meant no ill. "Ah am sorry, it is an old habit," she explained. "Where it's from "Sugarcube" is used for someone important and precious, both in rank and friendship. Since there is not a whole bunch of ranks above Equustode Ah figured it was okay. Ah'm sorry if Ah made ya uncomfortable with it."  
Twilight pondered about it a moment, then smiled. "It's fine. But I'd rather be called by my title."  
"As ya wish Equustode." she said, turning back.

* * *

Twilight left the officer mess with a weary sigh. This was definitely not what she had in mind when she asked for a report. The orange mare had insisted that she personally checked EVERY officer on her command and verify their skill individually. What should have taken an hour and almost no efforts had become a full day marathon. She would never had thought possible that such a mundane task would be that time-consuming.

"Who's next Spike?" she asked.  
"Techmare Rarity," he responded right away. "She's a unicorn responsible for the automated defences and the maintenance of the armoury. -" Spike paused a moment, as he checked inside his conditioned brain for more information. "- She's usually in a lab under the barrack," he added with a smile.  
"Thank you, Spike," she said softly.  
Spike kept smiling and simply nodded.

Finding Rarity's laboratory had been easy. It was very conveniently located and extremely well disposed, making it easily navigable but hardly defensible, much to the Equustode bother. The two visitors wandered through dark, empty rooms full of broken and repaired equipments without saying a word. Twilight couldn't help but notice that most of it had not been considered standard for centuries. Proper maintenance rites for such equipment were often lost. Or kept a secret by the Mechanequus, which was basically the same thing. Twilight quickly dismissed the thought. Unravelling the Mechanequus political struggles and its links to such a remote planet would likely take two lifetimes and she hardly had a few weeks before the Resurgence.

The Techmare was conveniently located in the centre of the place, in a small craft room, her attention focused on her work. From the back of her strange, slim, red power armour, four servo-arms equipped with various tools and claws were frenetically acting upon some cubic device Twilight could not identify. Flames and plasma flit around the artefact, making shadows dance in the room, creating unreal colours and strange patterns on the white fur of the unicorn. Sometimes, a spark would fly above her head, revealing curled locks of purple mane trapped by a protective helmet.

Knowing better to interrupt an Astrotechnequus during her work, Twilight decided to wait and watch silently. She was about to make sure Spike would keep quiet too but a quick glance at her serf assured her it would not be necessary. The dragon was transfixed by the spectacle. Twilight smiled at the spectacle. She had seen this kind of behaviour in lesser ponies and, through she was above such matter, she could see it quite easily : There was more than simple admiration for the work in front of him.  
At times like this one she remembered he was still so young... and the consequences of said youth in a galaxy at war. Her expression suddenly became cold and she nudged him to catch his attention.

"True Happiness stems only from Duty," she mouthed with a reproving scowl.

The dragon made a chastened face and snapped to attention, now watching his feet and avoiding any look in the general direction of Rarity. Twilight hoped she had dealt with the problem, at least made it tolerable for the times to come.

They didn't have to wait for too long, all things considered, but the silence had grown uncomfortable and both Twilight and Spike were happy to have an opportunity to break it. Once Rarity took a break from her work, Twilight jumped on the occasion to make her presence known.

"Salutation Soror Astrotechnequus," she saluted, her hoof on her chest. "I am..."

Four servos greeted her before she could finish her sentence. Twilight body tensed as the mechanised arms came close to her, but she relaxed when she felt the tools touch delicately her armour. The Techmare turned slowly, her cybernetic enhancements still on the Equustode.

"Salutation Equustode," she answered with a surprisingly refined tone. "Would you please follow me?"  
"Hum... may I enquire where to?" Twilight asked uncomfortably, still surrounded by servos.  
"Well darling,"- Twilight cocked an eyebrow at the unusual nickname -"this room lack the necessary tools to ensure a full maintenance of your apparatus." Rarity replied.  
"My appara... I'm sorry but I think you are mistaken. I am not here to check on my gear. I've been sent to check on you!"  
"Nonsense." she countered. "I do not need any check up. Your armour, however, suffer several minor malfunctions that could very well become critical, I simply cannot let you go like that," she stated.

Still surrounded by servos, and unable find reasonable arguments against long due repairs, Twilight resigned herself to her fate. Spike followed the mares without a word, small hints of a smile on his face.

Soon, Twilight found herself in an ample meditation robe while Rarity worked in several parts of her plate at the same time. The Techmare filled the silence an extensive detail of the base defence, mixed with questions about Canterlot and unexpected attempts of small talk.  
Not willing to displease his Lady once more, Spike had chosen to wait outside. He wasn't sure about what happened just before, but he had made a mistake somehow. Maybe he was not worthy of watching Rarity works. He must have looked upon some deep Mechanequus secret while ogling... Or maybe his newly found, and rather sudden, admiration for the Techmare work had made him neglect his duty somehow?

So lost he was in his musing that he didn't see the imposing figure slowly approaching until it was right on him. The irony wasn't lost to him.

"Tell me your allegiance dragonling," said a voice which depth could not be produced by any mortal throat.

It took hours to Twilight to take back her armour. Not that the repairs were complex. The truth was that Rarity kept trying to "improve" it. Once again, the Empress given authority had to be used to save several days of pointlessness. Yet another sigh escaped Twilight's muzzle as she left the workshop.

"Spike?" she asked. "Next mare please."

The lack of answer worried Twilight as she realised that her serf was nowhere in sight.

Her sense immediatly examined the room as she looked for clues on the whereabouts of the dragon. She was soon reassured by the sound of his voice. He was apparently in the middle of a conversation. She couldn't hear correctly the person he was talking to however. Strange distortions on the voice that made it totally unintelligible once reverberated by the empty rooms and corridors. Twilight walked calmly toward the voices.  
The place made it very easy for her to find her Monitor. He was at the other end of a corridor, calmly talking to a figure still hidden behind a corner. Judging by his respectful tone and the way he had to lift his head to looks at his interlocutor, Twilight deduced it must have been one of the Spacemares. Probably not Applejack judging by the difference of tone and register (the voice was way deeper and its pace slower). The unicorn caught up with the dragon, eager to get another step closer to the completion of her mission (quite literally).

To say she was surprised to see who Spike was talking to was an understatement.

Through her extensive studies, Twilight had of course heard of Dreadnoughts; heroes revered during their life, deemed worthy enough to be given another chance to serve through the grave, literally. When the Equustode where a more active force in the conquer of the galaxy, a few of them, such as the famous Sagitarius, had been reborn as such. But those time where long gone, and as the elite force of the Empress became more and more of a defence force, such sights had been long forgotten for Twilight and her peers. But the tales lived on. And it was as impressive as she was in right to expect.  
The sarcophagus was almost a metre taller than her and twice as large. Its form losely reminding the one of a pony but made way bulkier by its reinforced adamantium plates. The hind legs were very powerfully built and as big as a regular pony. Twilight knew that it would permit the mare inside (or rather her remnants) to make an optimal use of the agile and powerful forelegs for an extended duration, making the machine a deadly close combat foe of the ennemy of the Empress. Two powerful jet engines coupled with two folded adamantium wings revealed that she had been a pegasus. Several decoration and honour marks were spread all around its yellow paint while a few long pink banners hung from above her head all the way down to her "flank".

Noticing his mistress, Spike bowed respectfully in her direction, then turned back toward the Dreadnought.

"Lady Fluttershy, if I may introduce you to my mistress Lady Twilight?" he said.  
"..." the vox buzzed shortly as the sarcophagus turned toward the unicorn then bow sightly.  
"Lady Twilight, this is Lady Fluttershy," announced Spike. "She's... well she's in charge of the genetic, infirmary, apothecarium and many other things."  
"It's an honour," answered humbly Twilight.

Twilight tried to engage conversation with the Spacemare, eager to learn more about her. Unfortunately for her all tentative ended with the same empty buzzing sound. Spike was finally the one to rescue his Lady from the awkward one-sided discussion.

"If I may my Lady," he hinted "I remind you that we have to report to the Throne soon."  
Taking her cue, Twilight nodded. "You're right Spike!" she affirmed. "Thanks for reminding me."  
"Well we will leave you Lady Fluttershy," he said "My lady has a lot to do and we won't keep you from your maintenance routine. Thank you again for your report," he added while glancing at the unicorn. "May the Empress be with you."  
"And with you, Monitor Spike," she said in her deep yet soft vox-produced voice.

And, after a nod toward Twilight, she was gone.

"That was weird..." coughed Twilight.  
"Yeah, a guard passed and she did the exact same thing." informed Spike. "I think she only talked to me because I was a dragon... But on the bright side,"- a victorious grin appeared on his face -"I have your report!"  
"Good job, Spike," she acknowledged with a smile. "Thank you."  
"You're welcome." he said, his grin getting wider and warmer.  
"How many mares left?"  
"Just one."

Finding some remnant of courage in that perspective, Twilight braced herself.

"Let's go," she said.

* * *

Twilight grumbled as she left the barracks. The day had passed faster that she expected, or rather everything went slower than expected. The sun was slowly disappearing behind the horizon, the red-orange sky bleeding slowly from its fiery wound. Soon the stars started to shine, competing with the moving lights of the defence vessels and the imposing High Atmosphere Mobile Base. In less than an hour, the streets would outshine them all, directing the working ponies toward their habitations, which would without a doubt gather a most unnecessary crowd around the Equustode, slowing her even more.

Hopefully, the last mare would be easier to handle.

"Who's this last mare, Spike?" she asked tiredly.  
"The last one is responsible for the air forces, Sargent Rainbow Dash,"- something caught his attention above his mistress head and his voice got lower and lower as he continued until he completely stopped -"She should be in one of the aerial..."

The unicorn looked above her to see what distracted her Monitor. There was something in the sky. For a second, she thought it was an animal or a spaceship but she soon realised what it was and for a second she shared Spike's stupor. There was a pony falling out of the sky, right on them. The enhanced sight of Twilight permit her to discern a great deal of details of said fall. The pegasus falling toward them had a unique rainbow coloured mane cut short. Their cyan fur and black power armour appeared very distinctly on the dark red sky. Soon the sight became more precise and Twilight could see the huge bulk of a jetpack on her back. As the pony get closer, way too fast, Twilight's mind create a reasonable explanation for this most unlikely scenario. The poor pony must have suffer some sort of malfunction and was falling to their doom. Right on them. She didn't have the time to stop the fall, nor to raise a shield for Spike and she. Faster than she thought possible, she kicked the dragon away (somehow managing to control her strength so that she wouldn't hurt him) and brace herself for impact.

It never came. Instead she felt the temperature rise and fumes reach her nostrils. The noise of raging engines filled the air for a few seconds before shutting down. The silence that rose right after was deafening. Finally, Twilight rose her head again. The blue Spacemare fell on the ground just in front of her at the same time.

Twilight was at a loss for words from both anger and amazement.

"Sorry..." the pegasus said with a apologetic smile on her face. "I thought the area was clear. It's kind of hard to change my direction once launched. Are you okay?"  
Finally getting back to her senses, Twilight tried to look harden her look as she asked : "What was that all about? Who are you?"  
"The name's Rainbow Dash and that was my daily emergency intervention training routine," she said proudly.  
"You do that daily?" Twilight answered, baffled.  
"A mare's gotta stay sharp. "Faith and training will kick heretics ass on the battlefield" or something like that."  
"I think you mean "only faith in the Emperor and your training will save you on the battlefield"," she corrected. "Those are the words of Veteran Sargent K..."  
"Yeah! Exactly that!" the pegasus interrupted. "Who are you by the way?"

Exasperation threatened to overwhelm Twilight. She took a deep breath to regain her composure.

"I am Twilight Sparkle, Equustode on mission for the Empress," she announced. "I have been sent to check on the Spacemares in charge of the defence of this planet, including you. -" Twilight sighed "- But I guess it can wait tomorrow."  
"Why wait? I can give you whatever information you need."  
"I need extensive and precise informations," Twilight explained with a lot of emphasis on "precise". "And I need them before I do my own dispatch to the throne tonight. So unless you can go fetch the information and get them back to me in less than an hour..."  
"Exactly! Why wait?"  
"You mean you have those informations on you?" asked Twilight, surprised.  
"Hum no but I can fetch them easily."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah, they're in Cloudsdale," she said, designing the defence base high above their head. "I'll get them in a breath."

Reason dictated that she had a ship at the ready to make her do the trip. But reason (and several chapters of the Codex for good mesure) that one should not jump from unknown height only to activate their jetpack at the last second. There was no vessel in sight, therefore, the mare in front of her just claimed that she could reach a High Atmospheric Mobile Base in less than an hour by herself. Reason dictated that it was impossible. But reason seemed to have a hard time on this planet. For the Equustode it was time to settle the score.

"Victory needs no explanation, defeat allows none," she quoted wryly.  
"What do you mean?" said the pegasus, sensing that her word was attacked.  
"Prove it," taunted Twilight.

The pegasus bite the bait and didn't let it go.

"Where will you be in one hour?" she asked.  
"In the town archive, but..." started Twilight  
"Here's my accreditation codes and frequency." Rainbow interrupted, sending the information to Twilight, as she prepared her jetpack and took what looked like a harpoon launcher, with a big metal disk fixed on the muzzle, from under it.  
"Why would you..." Twilight tried.  
"So you know that's me when I come to the archive in one hour," she declared, interrupting the unicorn once again.

And with that she was gone. The thruster came to live once again, propelling the pegasus at an astonishing speed, leaving a quite unorthodox rainbow colored trail of fume behind her. For a fleeting second, Twilight wondered if this was supported by the Codex but she wasn't even sure which entry would address the problem of coloured jetpack trail.  
Soon the pegasus was but a blurred figure for the simple eyes of Spike, but Twilight could still see in great details Rainbow Dash using every little trick know to pony to optimise her flight, somehow gaining more and more speed as the get higher. Still, Twilight knew that this wouldn't be enough to get to the base. Despite her skill, the mare was simply too slow. As an answer to the thought, the engines shut down, decapitating the twin rainbow snakes. The mare keep rising, but slower and slower, her trajectory curving slightly. Twilight did not sense any panic in Rainbow Dash's attitude. There was more coming. The mare was doing something while her speed was decreasing, but Twilight couldn't see what. A ship went between the two Spacemares, and the pegasus was gone.

It took two seconds for the unicorn to link the dots. Even then she couldn't believe it.

"Did she just?" she asked out loud.  
"What did she do?" Spike question with insistence "I can't see a thing from this far!"  
"I think she just hooked herself on a moving ship..."

Spike watched the ascending vessel for a few seconds.

"Amazing..." he stated matter-of-factly.

* * *

Twilight stayed a moment, observing Cloudsdale and wondering if the pegasus had already arrived. But she quicly snapped out of it. The civilians were about to end their rotation and soon the road would be overcrowded with exhausted and to be exhausted workers. Moreover, there was no doubt that with the help of an air ship, Rainbow Dash could do the operation in time so there was even less point staying there.

Thus, Twilight and Spike went to the Archive, which was conveniently located next to the planetary governor office, without saying a word. The mare was lost into her thought, following Spike experienced guidance. The dragon had the itinerary memorised from him first time, and this wasn't the first time that he had to supervise his mistress walk in addition to his own. In fact, he had requested more conditioning to be able to do it more efficiently.

The meeting with the Spacemares had left a permanent scar in Twilight's brain. She could not deny their skill and experience. Most of them were almost on par with Equustodes of her knowledge! And just like them they had this independent mind, this unique outlook on life and service in the name of the Empress that made the guardians of the Empress such a versatile and powerful force. And that was probably what bothered her the most. They were way too much like Equustodes. Spacemares with such independent minds died or worse, made their sisters die.

Who were those mares? And more importantly, how was she supposed to lead them?

She did not have a valid answer when Spike told her that they were arrived. Twilight was not even surprised to see Rainbow Dash waiting for her in front of the door. A victorious grin on her face.

"Has it been an hour already?" Twilight asked, trying to look unimpressed.  
"Only Fifty-three minutes." boasted the pegasus. "But I thought you were in a hurry so I made sure to be here in advance."

Rolling her eyes, the Equustode made sign for Spike to take the papers the Spacemare had brought.

"Thank you Sargent."  
"You're welcome Twilight Sparkle." said the pegasus, still grinning.

And, in a less flamboyant way than before, she was gone, leaving two Canterlotians and two rainbow-coloured smoke trails behind her.

"All I want now is to report to the Empress." said Twilight out loud. "Can I just have that?" she added mentally.  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you" said a somewhat familiar voice, right behind her back.  
"It seems I can't have that," noted mentally the Equustode as she turned back rapidly.

The only thing she saw was a small grenade rolling on the ground.

Author's not :  
Yep. Cliffhanger. Because I've always dreamt to do that.

_"Their advantage is shock and surprise. Our counter-advantage must be a lack of convention."_  
_-Expand._


	4. Chapter 03 - Dusk of Hope

**Autor's note :  
**I am late once again... Sorry. Family stuff to deal with. The next chapter should be a little late too. Sorry in advance.**  
**Also, things are getting messy. Gory stuff incoming.

* * *

**THE MARE IN THE WARP**  
**Chapter 3 - Dusk of Hope**

* * *

**PV-01 orbit  
****Planetary defence vessel ****_Dusk of Hope_**

The sector had the defence fleet fitting its scope. It was underwhelming yet efficient, and Ponyville stood as a paragon of that. The Dusk squadron had been put in charge of the system for a few decades now, and it had been a rather uneventful task. There had been that wannabe pirate lords who tried to test the defences of the planet, and it had had to escort an important Inquisition ship. That had been the peek of excitement so far and Rolling Die was more than happy with it.

"Retry to contact the ships, operator," demanded the deep voice of her captain, between two sips of his coffee flask.

"But I guess that couldn't last," she thought as she focused her attention back on her screen. Just as everyone else, she could feel the tension on the bridge. Captain Typhoon Snivel hated coffee. Everyone knew that. He tried to hide it everytime he had to drink it, but his bionic forelegs always tensed when he opened the flask; the same kind they did when someone mentioned the Griffons to him. That's why he only drunk it at two times. When he needed to stay sharp and when the situation was about to get ugly.

Dominating the bridge, Typhoon Snivel tried to keep an air of serenity despite the coffee smell and his instinct yelling at him that something was wrong. The maroon unicorn checked his screens once again as his operator worked on her interface and ran the scans. A few seconds later, she confirmed her previous observations. There were three non answering ships. They were still within the authorised margins, and the captain knew there were perfectly reassuring and plausible reasons for those ship not to respond; most of them were statistically very probable even. But the first thing Typhoon had learnt during his service was that believing the reassuring options were most likely to kill you and millions of ponies.

"Which ships?" he asked.

"The _Crusader of Tartarus_, the _Just Retribution_ and the _Last Barrier_ Captain," somepony answered.

Typhoon Snivel pondered on these informations. He personally knew the crew of the _Crusader_. He had served with them a decade or so before he got his own ship. The vessel was likely kept on optimal condition or at least, in the best state the current assignment permitted. And their captain was no fool either and half the tricks Typhoon knew he had learnt from ponies like him. The chances that the ship didn't answer were really thin. Two ships in addition to that? Not happening.

Still glaring at the screen, the stallion gave his orders : "Alert the rest of the squadron. Unknown threat detected. -" Typhoon took a sip of coffee. "- Navigator, I want us in interception trajectory with the closest ship. All hands in quarters, raise the shields and don the weapons. I want this ship as ready as if the Warp itself was coming down on us. Which may very well happen," he added ominously.

Typhoon Snivel emptied his flask. This time he could not prevent disgust to take control of his face. "Empress I hate this thing," he thought.

"And bring me more coffee," he asked motioning his empty flask.

"So long for enjoying the small things in life..." thought Rolling Die, repressing a sigh. "This is going to be a long day."

* * *

"This plan is terrible! We should have attacked them directly!"

Death Scream said nothing. She knew better than acknowledging Small Pox rant even an hours-long one - she had other things to worry about anyway - but even then, her patience was wearing thin. She was very tempted to act against her reason and snap at her, but she knew it would only fuel her complaint rampage. She could turn off the vox, but in their situation they had to keep in touch at all time. Death Scream sighed. Only the Gods could devise such a cruel test of patience.

Between two curse about the Imperials weak blood - a nice change that unfortunately didn't last long - she tried to get a visual of her half-squad. She had lost sight of them hours ago while drifting into the void. Had she known Small Pox would be so annoying, she would have sabotaged her armour beforehand. Her helpless suffocations would have been a sweet melody to make the time pass.

"This is beneath us! We are the scourge of the galaxy, not torpedoes!" the annoying Spacemare continued.

Tapping in lengths of willpower she didn't even know she had, Death Scream once again ignored her irritating sister by concentrating on her objective. For her defence, this plan was a lot of things and crazy was the least of them. When the Sorcerer told her that she and two squads would be sent into space for hours, in hope to catch a frigate and get inside using unknown Chaos magic, her first reaction had been to laugh. Her second reaction had been to catch her breath after Moon Terror hit her, hard, in the stomach. "Damn her and her pet Sorcerer," she thought with not so repressed anger. Yet she had to admit, the whole scheme was very clever, even considering this borderline suicidal part.

Their half-squad target vessel was very close now. So close in fact that, without any other mark, it just looked like a big metal wall floating in space. Death Scream knew very well that the Frigate was in fact ridiculously small compared to other battleships. This was but an escort ship. A small thing made to harass and distract the enemy while the true battleships, bigger and better armed, were made to wage war, destroy whole fleets and burn worlds. And yet, they choose a handful of that insignificant piece of armament and assigned it to defend a world. A worthless one even! Death Scream didn't know what was worse. That vessels would be assigned to such a system or that the defence allocated would be so ridiculously weak. This pretence of defence was pathetic but unsurprising from the agonizing Imperium, she thought. Soon the sun would be eclipse by the planet bellow them and plunge the place into the darkness. Just as the sorcerer predicted, the vessel almost close enough. Once again, she pressed the strange relic on her chest. It was vital that she kept it no matter what happened.

"We should have brought or vessels and bring them death!" continued Small Pox.

"BY NURGLE ROTTING TAIL WILL YOU SHUT UP?" shouted an another angry voice on the vox.

"Make me sister. Oh wait a minute... YOU CAN'T!"

"I swear on the Gods' name that if you don't shut up, I'll make sure this long insufferable monologue of yours will be the last coherent thing you'll ever say!"

"Bold talk. Is there another Spacemare inside that armour of yours to help you back it up?"

Death Scream annoyance went up a notch. The amount of frustrating mares to deal with had just been doubled. She was about to join the fray when something caught her eyes. She could see some of her Spacemares. The area was growing more luminous as time passed instead of getting darker. This could only mean one thing and it was bad news.

"THEY'RE ACTIVATING THE SHIELDS! USE THE RELIC NOW!" she screamed in alert.

"THE SORCERER LIED TO US! I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE GUTTED HIM!" Small Pox complained.

"If you survive this, I swear on the Gods that I will kill you Pox" promised Death Scream. "Even if I have to get back from the Warp to do so," she added mentally.

The space around the ship got brighter as the energy was directed from the generators to the hull. The Spacemares brace themselves, praying to the Ruinous Powers that they would be able to get inside before it was too late. The relic on Death Scream chest started to get hotter, a reddish glow started to emanate from it but the Spacemare went blind as the filters on her helmet gave up, unable to deal with such an aggression. She had already shut her eyes up, but even then it was not enough. The temperature started to rise around her quickly becoming unbearable even for her. In the vox, a familiar voice screamed. Death Scream smiled at the sound. Even in death Small Pox was a loud mouth... but for once she liked what she heard. She still wore the contempt smile as everything went blank.

* * *

Typhoon Snivel was trying to stay as rational as possible. He kept his head on the task before him and tried his best not to let his feelings get the best of his logical thinking. Yet, this time, he could not shake the feeling that something really bad was about to happen. An unknown and powerful fear was twisting his entrails more than the black brew he was torturing himself with. And it didn't help that most of the other captains were sceptical about this. Most of them had acknowledge his call and make some preparations but only a two had followed his lead and really got ready for action.

"Do we have an answer from the ships?" he asked once again.

"No," an Operator responded. "We're trying to get them through another signal, in case of a malfunction, but it had shown no result yet."

The Captain nodded absent-mindedly. "I hope I'm mistaken," he thought ominously.

* * *

"Status," Death Scream whispered for the umpteenth time in her vox.

Only static answered her call. There was a chance the shield had jammed the communication or that the others were not able to reach her yet. But somehow she doubted it. Until further notice she was alone and probably the only surviving member of her half-squad. Moreover, she was unable to say how long it had taken her to get inside the ship. A few seconds? Minutes? Hours? Playing with the energies of the Gods' realm always impacted the way time flowed... As far as she was concerned, months could have passed. So time was also a factor to take into account. As things were supposed to go, each of the member of the group was to cripple a vital part of the ship, Rendering it momentously unable to function. Then sever the head, and finally go to the Warp-Drive. Now, things had gotten a lot more complicated. She had to carry out the same mission, faster and alone.

She'd had to adjust her objectives.

As she examined the empty room were she had appeared, Death Scream thought of a plan of action. She had to prioritize the main targets. The bridge and the Warp-drive. She was a Spacemare facing ants. It was perfectly doable. No matter how many they were, ants were still ants. The real problem was to do it before they could raise the alarm. A quick detour to the communications would be necessary before she could focus on the main dish.

She had orders. She had a plan. She was ready.

"For the Warmistress," she said as she drew her dagger and left the room.

* * *

Rolling Die was sure she had not dreamt it. For a few seconds, there had been a surge in the shields, as if it had been hit by small energy weapons but not trace of attack or anything. It was gone as soon as it had appeared. There was a chance Rolling Die had just imagined it or that it was just a dysfunction of the shield, but somehow she doubted it. "Better safe than sorry," she thought as she reached a decision.

"Captain?" she ventured. "I've had weird reading from the shield and from this part of the hull"- she pointed the middle of the ship on a map on her screen. -"It was fast and relatively small so it's probably nothing but given the situation, -" she shrugged "- I thought it was worth mentioning," she quickly added.

Typhoon Snivel looked at her intensely. She gulped but didn't avert her gaze. The expression of her captain suddenly soften and for a second she thought she saw the shadow of a smile. It was gone so fast there was no way to say if she had just imagined it. The red optics returned to the deck as he gave his orders :

"Send patrols in this sector," he ordered his second. "Check them every minutes. -" He then turned toward Rolling Die, nodded and, with a solemnity that took her by surprise, he added "- Keep up the good work."

"Sir! Yes sir!" she half-shouted with enthusiasm.

This time, she was sure she had seen a smile on his face.

* * *

Death Scream hated a lot of ponies.

The list encompassed the entirety of the Imperium, Xenos, pirates, renegades and others Heretics alike. But some ponies were pretty good at annoying her and when she was lucky they were not her sisters in battle or temporary allies but actual foes. And by his constant interfering with her progression, the captain of this vessel had earn a special place at the top of said list. Her hope of getting fast and unnoticed had been quickly shut down when patrols started to navigate the area. At first she managed to avoid them but her progression had become way too slow for her liking. blood lust and exasperation had got the best of her tactical thinking. Now she advanced as fast as her chain axe permitted. Which would be quicker if she didn't enjoy killing the feeble ponies so much. Flesh and blood painted her armour and her face, now unprotected so that she could enjoy her slaughter to its fullest.

She was getting lost in her rage when she felt an impact on her head. It tilted on the shock then came back on its initial position. She slowly turned her gaze toward the perpetrator, the hungry smile still on her face. It was a middle-aged earth pony. Death Scream could see his fear, hidden behind a mask of rage. He tried to reassure himself, and his companion probably, with an angry "Heretic" shouted at her.

"How unoriginal," she thought.

"You noticed?" Death Screamer smirked as her blade butchered a servitor in half. "I can't believe you noticed... What gave it away?"- Another crew member died, his throat reduced to pulp by a kick. -"Was is the my armour?"- An auto-turret was shot silent. -"The skull were too much isn't it? Or maybe it's on my helm? The chaos emblems are pretty obvious aren't they? "- A bolter shot exploded amongst three ponies. One of them died at once, the two other were swiftly executed.

Death Scream walked calmly toward her last victim, not even exhausted by the massacre. He was the last one alive, his useless lasgun at his hooves. He trembled in fear now, pathetically, watching the emissary of death silently making her way toward him.

"So? What gave me away pony?" she asked with mocking disdain.

Her blade cut a forelimb. The pony fell on the ground, too shocked to scream.

"So? Your false Empress got your tongue?"

Another limb was gruesomely detached from its owner. Death Scream purposely slowed her blow to make the wound messier. This time, the pony howled. The chaos Spacemare glowered at the sound. She got around him, slowly getting out of his sight. Unable to turn toward her, he desperately struggled to flee his torturer, leaving two trails of blood on the ground. He didn't go far. There was a sickening sound as both his hind legs were crushed by a set of powerful hooves.

The shriek echoed in the halls. Death Scream smiled like a madpony as she felt the Ruinous Powers influence grow stronger within her.

"I know! I must be my blade inside your corpse!"

And with that, she slid her blade on his flank. Organs fled the battered corpse, as if trying to escape the pain that filled it.

"Congratulation, your observation skills served you well," she mocked one last time, leaving the pony to die a painful and way too slow death.

Still smiling the renegade went deeper inside the ship.

* * *

The bridge was totally silent. Five patrols had ceased to respond, two more had had time to confirm that they were under attack before going mute. Captain Typhoon Snivel took a long sip of his newly refuelled flask, took a deep breath and gave his orders :

"We are boarded, lock everything lockable in the in the centre of the ship until we know the menace had been eliminated." he demanded calmly. "Protect the communication centres in priority. Call the battlefleet and tell them the system is under attack of undetermined scope. Warn every captain in the system and tell them to consider any non responding ship at the hands of the enemy, including ours of course. And may the Empress be with us."

"This is going to be a long day," he thought.

* * *

**Somewhere in the Ponyville System**

The Sorcerer was moving his pawns.

The Moon cultists were awaiting his orders. Hidden among the pathetic sun lovers. Soon they would sacrifice Ponyville for the Warmistress. The _Somnum Extereri_ had been waiting for months now, hiding in the shadows patiently, lurking in the edge of the sensors of the imperial squadron. The moment was coming when he would unleash its fury upon the unsuspecting world. The Wolves were ready to welcome back to their mistress into the material world and wage war in her name.

But now was not the moment. The Sorcerer and his allies had to wait their hour, and the whole system hold its breath in waiting for the things to come. Now was the time for careful strategy and precisely orchestrated actions.

Behind him, dozens of fanatics were chanting for the Gods, asking for their blessing. Sometimes, one managed to caught their gazes upon him. What happened next depended on the cruelty of the Lords of the Immaterium and the heretic own resilience.

At his side stood his "champion" as he liked to call her. It always amused him to see the massive demi-goddess pegasus at his side, as his equal. There was something exhilarating about it. Yet he knew better than berate the Spacemare. She just had enough respect for his power and his knowledge to admit that she needed him as much as he needed her.

"You never asked me why I suggested that we do things as we did," he said pensively.

"And you never asked why I agreed with your plan," she answered.

"True."

Both ponies stayed silent for a moment.

"Do you know the first lesson of strategy my mistress ever gave me?" he asked.

"No, Sorcerer," she said flatly.

"What she taught me was that a good plan does not make success a certainty, for such a thing does not exists; it make failure insignificant," he stated calmly.

"Funny... Do you know what my Primare'ch taught me once on this subject?" she asked softly.

"Please, do enlighten me Champion," the Sorcerer smirked.

"She taught me that failure was never an option."

Silence fell as the Sorcerer tried to remain calm as he coped with the implied threat.

"I suppose a mere pony has different expectations to meet than an all-powerful Spacemare," he said, trying to get back some of his composure.

"The price of failure stays the same Sorcerer," she said looking at him intensely. "Don't forget it."

"I have more to lose than you could ever take from me Spacemare. So rest assured that I won't," he responded without hesitations withstanding the mare glaze.

"Good."

There was a third silence.

"I think the time has come, Champion. Ponyville is ripe for the taking."

The stoic pegasus let a ravenous smile flourish on her face. "It was about time."

* * *

**Autor's note** :  
Yep. No Twilight and new cliffhanger.  
I am a bad person.

_"One warrior usually suffices."  
__\- Priad of the Iron Snakes_


	5. Chapter 04 - What lies in the shadows

**PV-01  
****Admistratum quarter, in front of the planetary archives**

The grenade rolled slowly and softly bumped Twilight's hoof.

Spike turned toward his Lady, concern worming its way on his face as the small noise of metal hitting ceramite passed his fin to hit his brain. The unicorn didn't move. A resolute expression was plastered on her face. Shock had no hold on her : her training had already kicked in.

The device was custom made, but clearly based on regular imperial krak grenade models. Impractical, but more than enough to damage her armour and even hurt her. Since it hadn't exploded yet, it was safe to assume the fuse was still on. This left Twilight with approximately ten seconds to get rid of it. Likely less than that. She had to get rid of it. She considered her surroundings. The Administratum quarters were not the most populated area, but she could still hear a herd of ponies approaching.

"The streets won't do," she noted.

The warmare gripped the grenade in her ceramite clad hoof and was gone in a flash.

Spike had barely moved from his spot, in fact, he barely had time to react, but he knew his duty : he would wait for his lady's return. Unfortunately, somepony didn't agree with his plans. Darkness invaded his world as a strange scent assaulted his nostrils.

Twilight ascended. _Not high enough!_ Roofs flashed before her eyes as she went. _Higher!_ She teleported. Once more! Then she reached her goal : a small overture in the confining of buildings. _HERE!_

Gathering as much strength as she could in such a short notice, Twilight threw the device. It exploded as soon as it left her hoof, but the Equustode was already gone. Lavender lights flashed once again in the darkening sky like the first thunderbolts of an incoming tempest. There was a heavy shock when the massive unicorn in armour fell on the ground, right at her starting point.

The change in scenery in ten mere seconds made Twilight frown.

Fresh blood flowed lazily around her golden horseshoe. In lieu and place of her serf was the corpse of a pegasus. Blood poured irregularly through his sliced throat. A simple look was enough to understand that the pony was already beyond salvation, save maybe for the work of a skilled apothecary. But Twilight didn't care for his fate, she had more important problems right now : Spike was missing.

"Spike?" she called.

For the second time in a very frustrating day, the lack of answer worried the armoured unicorn as she realised that her serf was nowhere in sight. The frown got deeper. She had just been attacked, there was a dead pegasus at her feet and her Monitor was missing. There were many possibilities almost none were reassuring.

The sound of hooves clapping on the stone floor immediately caught her attention, diverting her from those thoughts. She instantly turned toward the source and let and exasperated groan left her muzzle as she found herself facing the archives. What had been a haven less than ten minutes ago was now a potential battlefield.

"Why am I not surprised?" she brooded, her horn glowing as her staff levitated at her side. "At this point, I should expect heretics and an ambush," she added bitterly.

Without further ado, Twilight teleported inside the building.

The empty entry hallway of the Administratum archive was briefly illuminated by a flash of lavender light before returning to its flickering, dark and, by many standard, impractical level. Despite the circumstances, Twilight could not help but give an appreciative look to the place. The archives were everything she could have hoped for. Years of underponied care had turned the place into a maze of shelves filled with raw data in any form known to ponykind (known and authorised by the Inquisition anyway) grouped in the faintest semblance of order. She doubted it would compare to the Equustode's library but there should be interesting pieces of information lying here. She would have to wait before she could study it further however. Now, her focus was on the pony she heard running in the distance.

Silently wishing that her prey would have answers and her serf, Twilight went further into the archives.

Twilight ran, like a thunderstorm closing on an unsuspecting shore, her heavy, armoured hooves thundering on the stone floor like the fury of some old pagan god. She bolted through walls and flashed through shelves, reclaiming metres after metres on her prey. Twilight ran, and the place shook in fear from her rumbling course. And Twilight ran, her steady hearts beats and the rhythmic lap of fleeing hooves pacing her. A few shelves and turns only prevented her to see them and strike... for now.  
_Soon._

Twilight still ran, getting close. She could glimpse her mark now. A dark cloak hid most of their features, save for a puffy tail and locks of a curly mane... and an unconscious dragonling on their back. More magic poured in the staff each passing second. Bolts of energy crackled around it making the shadows recoil in terror. All she needed now was the right moment.  
_Soon._

Twilight and her prey ran, deep into the archive through hidden paths and halls, old and forgotten. They were a few metres away from each other. The scent of ozone and sweat filled the air around her. Smelled like victory for the Equustode.  
_NOW!_

A golden and lavender thunderbolt flew toward the runaway pony at an astonishing speed. However, as if sensing the incoming attack, they _turned_. Right into the wall, getting through it as if it was made of paper. Surprise dulled the reaction of the Equustode, making her pass the hole for a few feet before she could react appropriately. It didn't take long, mere seconds, but it was enough : when she finally got through the new overture in the wall, her target was already gone.

Frustration made its way through Twilight's throat, manifesting itself in a low grumble. With a thought, she took back her half-buried staff and made it hover at her left side as she penetrated the new room with circumspection.

Now that the thrill of the chase was gone, Twilight realised how deep she had gone into the building. Darkness had grown so thick the faint glow of her staff was barely enough for even her senses to correctly assess the room. Wary of ambushes, Twilight increased the intensity of the light surrounding her horn and staff. The shadows fled, hiding between the shelves and various rumbles and irregularities on the ground, revealing as they did, a room which made the entrance looks organized. It was vast, though it was hard to have a precise idea due to the lack of light, and was as much filled with knowledge as it was _made_ of it. Scrolls and books, velum and papyrus, and every support where a pony could possibly use ink (or any other liquid for that matter), and even more, all of it escaping the restraining confines to join the walls, floor and even ceiling in some parts. Twilight was in no mood to admire the sight yet. The only thing she could see was the way too numerous hiding places it provided.

While she progressed, way more cautiously now, the Equustode pondered on her current situation. She had let things get out of control, a luxury she could not afford. It was becoming quite the bad habit. Maybe she had neglected her training more than she cared to admit... However, now she was focused and her mind clear, making some details she had overlooked blatantly obvious. It boiled down to one thing. Her prey had successfully escaped the wrath of an Equustode by hoof, with a dragon on their back, without getting lost or getting into an impasse. This showed an incredible strength, willpower, endurance and training, and an extensive knowledge of the building. Twilight was still formulating hypothesis when she finally heard something. It was nothing more than a distant whisper in the distance at first, but the more she focused on it, the more it became obvious there was something wrong about it. In the depths of the archives, ponies were chanting.

Twilight dimmed the light of her staff and get deeper into the archive.  
_Soon._

* * *

Spike shifted in and out of consciousness.

Senseless dreams plagued is fevered mind. Sometimes he could grasp something out of his visions, or maybe his visions were influenced by what was happening around him, there was no way for him to tell which one it was. He was fleeing something. Or something was running away from him. Sometimes, when reality drew closer, he could feel the steady pace of a pony running under him. Not a mere pony... a Spacemare, [i]Twilight[/i]? he knew the difference. Something inside him woke at the thought of Twilight fleeing. A spark in the midst of the fog that now inhabited his brain. Thoughts started to gather around it, creating a semblance of coherence. Consciousness was winning its battle for dominance. The fog was starting to retreat, leaving him confused but aware. The first thing he realised was that he wasn't running anymore. He was sit. And nothing moved. Not even his own body. A slight panic took him as felt his body struggling to obey his command. His body was numb and heavy. Opening his eyes asked more efforts that he could gather. Even his senses were dulled to the point he barely felt the books uncomfortably pressed against his back scales. A painful groan formed and stayed into his throat turning into an barely audible gurgle. Next to him, something (somepony?) moved and got closer. The sound of hooves softly clapping on the stone floor reverberated strangely in his fins.

"Are you awake?" said a distorted voice.

The faint feeling of a hoof posed on his scale made him flinch, or the pathetic equivalent that his body now permitted. That was enough for the pony, however.

"Good!"

Spike tried to move, to force his muscle to obey. A shiver went through his body as a result.

"Don't worry! It'll pass. You've been a tinsy winsy drugged you see? It should be gone in a jiffy. Maybe two."

Another groan got through the dragon lips.

"Sush silly! You're gonna swallow your tongue! And we don't want that do we?" the cheerful voice asked rhetorically. "Now stay here and don't make a noise. Your mistress is coming and I don't want to miss the fun~," the voice sang. "Just relax and enjoy the soothing sound of gunshots."

The "clic" of a rifle being loaded made a very ominous punctuation to her sentence and sent a chill down Spike's spine. Inside the confines of his fogged mind and drugged body, the dragon cursed his weakness.

* * *

As she drew closer to the source of the sounds, Twilight started to grasp more of the words and she wished she hadn't. She wasn't sure what made her skin crawl, the words spoken or the heresy in itself. Probably both. And either way, it didn't matter.

The empty hallways were dimly lit by archaic torches probably made with the materials at disposal. The thought was cringe-worthy but the mere presence of heretic in her living quarters left little to no room in her mind for more "dissatisfaction". There was several dozens of ponies, [i]a hundred? Surely a bit more than that...[/i], all gathered in a relatively small room, or whatever the space delimited by books and furnitures could be called. As far as Twilight could see from her observing post, there was only one entrance and thus one exit, which made her task way easier.

"For Celestia." she whispered.

And thus Twilight entered the room.

The first cultist didn't even realise his death. He simply wondered why his voice wouldn't come out anymore. Blood loss quickly got the better of his thinking ability as the staff that had perforated his throat left the wound. Two more followed as the bladed staff sliced through their neck and temple. The decapitated pony wondered why the floor was rising right before everything went dark. The second gurgled as her jaw enjoyed the sudden freedom that a brain removal would grant. At this point some cultists realised that something was wrong, namely a demi-goddess clad in gold slaughtering them. Three more ponies died before any alarm was raised. By the time her foes defence started to organise, Twilight's victims count was in the double digits. There was a pause, as the Equustode stood before the exit and the heretics watched her in awe. The staff lazily flew at the left side of the warmare, the blade facing the assembly as if passing a silent judgement on the crowd. Then it started to move. And heretics died.

* * *

Somewhere in the archive, through a sniper lens, somepony watched the fight with great interest. The spectacle was like nothing they'd ever see. It was not mere destruction of the enemy, it was something else, something more. The cloaked pony watched in amazement the lone unicorn move with a deadly efficiency, each motion resulting in the disarming, impairment either/or death of a cultist. It was beautiful in its own way. It was a dance. A dance of death and the cultist were trying, and failing, to follow the pace imposed by the warmare. It was truly beautiful. Too bad she had to cut it short...

* * *

Many more heretics lied on the ground before any worthwhile resistance manifest itself. At first, they had tried to fight or flee, but miserably failed at both. Without the proper equipment, they could barely make a dent on Twilight armour, let alone hurt her. Now they merely tried to defend their life, with very similar results. For a moment, the unicorn wondered if they'd keep getting in line to get slaughtered, but she suspected she wouldn't be so lucky. And for once realities met her expectations.

There was a pause as the ponies seemed to retreat, getting as much space as possible in such a crowded room between them and the Equustode.

Twilight knew better. This was not the panicked attitude of a herd of ponies fleeing. It was something else, something she had already seen countless times in her barrack. Ponies getting far enough not to get drawn into something that was bigger than them but not too far so they could see as much as possible of what was to come. It was the organized yet unconscious moves of a crowd about to assist a duel. They were making a ring for her and whatever stood as their champion.

Pondering her options, Twilight decided to wait for her foe to come out.

It didn't take long.

A rumour roams the crowd as the pony fended it.

Said champion was young (barely out of foalhood in fact), a unicorn, had made a lot of effort to erase any sign of gender out of their persona, but most importantly they wore heresy as a robe, both metaphorically and literally. It was almost stereotypical. If their unholy-word-ridden piece of clothes wasn't enough to identify their allegiance, they had elected to paint the characteristic eight-branch star on her unmaned head, centred on her horn, and did the same on her tailless flanks. But Twilight need not those to mark them. The influence of the Warp was thick around the yellow unicorn, enough to make the Equustode's skin crawl sightly. If she could, she'd have sentenced them to death twice.

The psyker was barely out of the crowd when a golden, chakram-like projectile hit their position. Too busy to bow to the unicorn, the mass of cultist cluttered there were unable to avoid the rotating staff and took the hit at full force, leaving in its place more casualties. The weapon came back to her owner, as quickly as it was gone, to its usual hovering place.

Twilight dared a victorious smile, that quickly faded. In its stead, a frustrating groan almost managed to escape her muzzle. The Psyker was still here, standing a few metres away from his initial position, a satisfied smile on their face. The Psyker was waiting. Waiting for Twilight to make the first move. Again.

The warmare was happy to oblige.

Twilight "dissatisfaction" was reaching a peak.

Instead of a fight she was caught in another pointless chase. The Psyker seemed to have no intention to actually confront their foe. They annoyingly shifted in and out of reality, escaping the flurry of blows of the Equustode that was raining upon them. Even more infuriating was the feeling (more of an educated guess) that something was ahoove. It was obvious the Psyker was waiting for something. They were stalling her and she knew it, it was painfully obvious. They could barely keep up at this; their breath was short and shallow, their coat was drenched in sweat, at time they almost struggled to stand up; while the Equustode was barely phased. Yet they kept going. Soon they would slip up and get caught by the staff or claimed by the very forces they used to cheat death. Yet they keep going. And there was barely anything the lavender unicorn could do about it. Yet. But it didn't make things any less "unsatisfactory". Every attack avoided by the Psyker; every fanatical smile on the faces of the heretics as they died, taking blows intended for their leader; every seconds she was forced to stay here instead of looking for Spike just added to and already overfilled pool of "frustration".

The staff struck again, killing two more cultists.

The Psyker reemerged, a mere metre away, a mocking smirk on her face.

Twilight Sparkle was no longer "dissatisfied".

* * *

Despite their efforts and exhaustion, Lasting Chains could not contain a victorious smile on their face. True, the false-empress whorse had taken them by surprise and killed many of them... but she was alone and they had something in store for this scenario. The Psyker just had to stall her foe long enough for the rest of the cultists to prepare the counter-attack.

Another blow was struck at her and Lasting Chains let the grip of the Warp claim her again.

The material world faded to be replaced with the taunting faces of daemons. They were gathering around the Psyker, testing their defences, haunting them, waiting for the small slip, the small laps in their concentration that would expose the tasty looking soul of the unicorn. It was getting harder to ignore the inhuman faces shouting, pleading, shushing, promising, whispering, crying, laughing or, and not limited to, any combination of the former. But victory was at hoof, Lasting Chains knew better than blowing it up at the last minute. Drawing in their soon to be failing strengths, they emerged of the warp, ready to taunt the imperial foal once again.

Lasting Chains just had the time to see the face of a purple demi-goddess, contorted with anger, before the world collapsed.

Something thumped them. No it felt more like they had been sent at an incredible speed on a concrete wall. Their skull break on several part and their whole skeleton quaked at the impact. Their body went limp like a broken toy. Reality lost its substance. There was only darkness. Lasting Chains felt like they were flying. Maybe they were... they couldn't feel the ground anymore. "Maybe sleeping would make things make sense again?" they pondered as they felt their consciousness fading.

A shock, somehow softer than the previous one woke her up.

"ast... ime... is... my... itor?" came a voice from outside the darkness.

It took un undetermined amount of time for the Psyker to understand, but dread took them as they realised that they were screamed at so loudly that the sound waves hit them hard enough to wake them up. For the first time since the beginning of the fight they foolishly got themself into, Lasting Chains realised just how dangerous the warmare was.

"Must... stop her...". The thought emerged at the surface of her conciousness. They cast the spell, using whatever life force remained in their broken body. A spell that got them their name...

Lasting Chains died, with the small comfort that the Daemons ripping her soul to shred were sightly less frightening after having faced the wrath of an Equustode.

* * *

The Psyker hung limply at the end of the leg of a ticked off Equustode, broken and barely conscious from a kick delivered to their face. Twilight groaned in frustration as she realised they were too far gone to answer her questions. She was about to direct her anger toward the crowd watching the spectacle when she realised the trap she had fallen into. The Psyker had managed to catch her attention long enough so she wouldn't pay attention to the mare now aiming at her with a gun of high enough calibre to actually hurt her.

It had taken her less than a day to show negligence again... "Unacceptable," Twilight thought laconically.

* * *

A cloaked mare grinned as her prey was at last on position. There was a light "clic" as she lightly pressed the trigger.

"Let's end this party with a bang..."

* * *

Twilight tried to move but she found herself unable to do so as chains of power was starting to cover her body. It wouldn't hinder her long, a handful of seconds. But she didn't really have that.

"Truly unacceptable."

The detonation filled the room.

* * *

The bullet shell rolled toward Spike with a maddening slowness, making a shrill sound while doing so. Anger and shame rose inside him, cutting through the fog that had invaded his thoughts, as they rallied behind one very simple idea. Getting up and bring pain to those who'd hurt his Lady. His body struggled against the chemicals in his muscles, making him shake violently and erratically at the effort. The feeling of helplessness was nauseating, the pain, even worse, but the dragon refused to let go.

Or so he thought. The noise of a sniper rifle reloading had a bone chilling effect Spike was still unfamiliar with. a dissident thought started to hijack his efforts : "I'm going to die...".

Hungry for the territory it had lost, the fog came back... To be brutally thrown out.

"There is no way I'm going without a fight!"

Spike efforts redoubled and the fog definitively left as the anger rose inside him.

"I am the Monitor of Equustode Twilight Sparkle! Defender of the Throne! And I will live and I will die like it!"

The poison in his muscle started to recede.

Still shaking, Spike slowly rose on his feet.

* * *

After such a long time, I finally did it.

This chapter has been a pain in the flank to write, and I actually had to write it **_TWICE_** due to my total lack of luck and foresight.

But here it is, at last. I hope all those effort will be worth it. Enjoy.

PS : I hesitated a long time to decide if I should use the non-gendered "he" or "they" for the chase and Lasting Chains. I finally chose the "they". Hope that's not too confusing... I've never quite had the occasion to use them.

PPS : Yes. A cliffhanger. Again. I'm not sorry. Much.

_"She spinned like a dervish, her blade dancing around her. Death accompanied her, following her quick tempo without a fault. The death cry of her ennemies made a pleasing counterpoint to the constant humming of the glowing blade swinging threw the air._

_And she sang for her Empress. Chants of love and devotion for Her, of hate and despise of Her ennemy, words of duty and fidelity._

_She carried the dance of death, until her own demise make her part from her duty."_

\- The dance of the Spacemare, autor unknown.


	6. Interlude 01 - The shortest night

**PV-01**  
**Recreation sector**

The bar was a common place for the miners to gather after their shift. There was alcohol for starter, and the occasional pony willing to spend a good time. Gravel Ire usually avoided it like the noisy, drunkard-filled, cramped room it usually was. Tonight however, he needed the release and the cheap apple cider that brought it. The day had been worse than usual and the day of a miner is usually hard to top. First, ten members of his crew called sick and forced him and the rest to work twice as much to compensate, then they were told there was some kind of imperial official that was to come and thus they would have to end their shift late for some security crap reasons.

"Damn those filthy better-than-you snotty nobles," he ranted angrily. "Come from Canterlot, looking down on us while they never did a damn on their own. Wouldn't lift a hoof to save their own life if there wasn't a slave to do it for them!"

The stallion interrupted his known-by-heart rant and watched his reflection in the amber liquid, now devoid of foam. Staring angrily at the recent white stripes in his once pristine black mane. There was a time where the ambiance light would hide them. Not anymore. It was one but the several tolls the mines had taken on him. With a disgusted groan he emptied his mug. Drops of alcohol flew out and stained his grey coat. He didn't react. He had ceased to care at the third cider and to notice at the fifth. He was still looking for the dose that would make the ponies around him more tolerable. Apparently seven was still not enough, but he was getting close.

"Heya friend!" said a annoyingly cheerful voice next to him.

Or maybe not so close.

"Is this seat taken?" asked another in a pain-in-the-plotly joyous tone.

"What do you guess?" he mumbled unpleasantly, hoping that his tone would be a cue.

It was not.

The two ponies sit next to him a great smile on their face and a mug in their hoof. Gravel Ire grumbled to himself. Just as he thought ponykind could be tolerable. He decided to ignore them. Years of experience had made him really good at it.

"Tis a nice night isn't it?" the first pony ask, still unbearably happy.

"Yeah! A superb one!" the second answered.

A dreadful thought came to the miner : "Don't tell me they plan to keep at it?"

They did.

Three minutes of painful chatter later, The two pony-shaped nuisance were still at it, babbling his calm away. The two additional ciders he took were still not enough and hitting the double digits was something he left for the truly desperate. Something he would become if he didn't get rid of them. He'd thought of living the place, but the two ponies were blocking his exit. And he was to proud to give them what counted as a win in his book.

"Hey did you know?" _Shut up..._

"Not yet," _Shut up._

"Tonight's the summer solstice!" _Shut up!_

"Really? The night's gonna be short!" _SHUT UP!_

"Yeah! We better do the most of it then! What do you think?" _SHUT THE BUCK UP!_

Even with enough alcohol to put his liver on strike Gravel knew an opportunity when he saw one and he grabbed it. It was either that or physically assault them.

"It would be even shorter if you two left me the buck alone!" he groaned very audibly. "Every minute with your babbling feel like a freaking eternity!"

There was a second of silence. Quickly broke by some laughters :

"Ah! We got a grumpy one!" one of them said.

"Quite! We should leave him alone now," his accomplice said.

"About time!" Gravel grumbled just audibly enough so they would hear him.

The intruders left the table, still laughing at him. The closer, the one on his right, tripped, falling on him and dishcarging his warm beverage on him at the same time. Gravel helped him the best he could : by shoving the annoying pony out of him. They exited the bar, still laughing, leaving the grumpy digger both soaked and furious.

While grumbling his best insults, describing mostly anatomically impossible and extremely painful situations for the duo, Gravel looked around him searching for a way to clean himself up. It was useless to count on the ponies here. The few that was still in the room were wasted beyond recovery. Some of them were even lying in pools of what seemed to be a mix of alcohol and body fluids.

"That's gonna hurt tomorrow," he sneered.

Still he was not in a very good condition himself and if he was to be in any shape to work tomorrow shift he'd better go back to bed as soon as possible. Gravel was starting to feel dizzy. It was getting harder to focus. If only he could find a towel or a napkin or anything! The stallion started to staggering aimlessly in the room. Something wet made him trip. He felt a sharp pain on his chest. He had not drink that much did he?

"You're getting old," he laughed, trying to get back some confidence.

Instinctively, he put his hoof on his chest, checking for injury. The wet and warm feeling made the blood still inside him run cold.

"Oh buck! How the... Buck!"

The cut on his chest was deep. Blood was continuously flowing through it, staining his fur way more than the cider had done. Gravel Ire tried and failed to get up. His limbs were weak and alcohol and panic made them unresponsive. The stallion slipped again, wetting his coat with even more blood.

"Du-did I slip in... my blood? OhBuckOhBuckOhBuckOhBuckOhBuckOhBuck...".

Panic gave way to full fledged terror. Gravel tried to get up while clutching his open wound with expected results. His face fell on the pool of his own fluid. Blood was everywhere, he could not escape.

"SWEET CELESTIA! SOMEPONY HELP! ANYPONY! HELP!" he pleaded.

Dead indifference met his call.

"Somepony help me..." he sobbed.

Nopony came to help.  
Dead ponies never do.

* * *

And I'm back on track.

With this chapter I managed to catch up with what I had already written before. I'm having some busy weeks ahead of me so probably no new chapter before September.

Enjoy!

_"When the traitor's hand strikes, it strikes with the strength of a legion."  
_\- attibuted to the Warmistress


	7. Chapter 05 - End of opening

**PV-01**  
**Planetary archives**

Twilight stood defiantly, a heap of bodies at her hooves.  
She absent-mindedly studied the corpse of a pony she had not killed. Memories of the recent fight...

**~o~**

The detonation filled the room, leaving a deafening silence as it died. For an instant, Twilight wondered why she felt no pain. The instant passed and she saw the mess that once was the gunner's head. In the distance, she heard the sound of a rifle reloading. She didn't lose time wondering what was happening. The room still need purification.

If there was any doubt before, the fight became a one-sided butchery. The mysterious sniper was shooting down any pony daring enough to get close to the heavy weapon. The screams of heretics filled the room a few more minutes until the only audible sound came from Twilight prayers.

**~o~**

... still flashing in her mind. She had an ally. Or rather, those cultists had another enemy.  
Twilight displaced a body to look at a its bullet wound. One hit, one kill. Like all the others. Whoever the pony was, they were well trained. And judging by the bullet wound, stronger than the regular pony. She doubted that the archive sheltered more ponies, leaving one valid candidate. But "who?" was the easy part of the problem. "Why?" still eluded her. She had some hypothesises, of course she had, but they always get migraine-inducing at some point. Twilight needed some key variables to fully understand what was happening. Massaging her temple, she kept going through the heretics. Twelve of them had been shot from afar. That was more than enough for the Equustode to estimate the position of the sniper. Answers were long due. It was about time to get them.

Twilight left the room, leaving the darkness claim its territory once again.

* * *

Facing a Spacemare was a terrifying prospect. Spike had been in Equustodes' care long enough to know the full extent of their capacities. Yet, here he was, with a handicap to boot.

"I bet Twilight'd have some Codex line or a quote for me," he mused. "Something like 'If your life is given in the service of the Empress, your death shall not be in vain'." Spike frowned at the thought. He'd be glad to die in service of his Lady and the Empress, but he was in no hurry either. Dying here served no purpose at all. "Think Spikey-boy! You've got this!"

He was up. That was an improvement. His whole body was screaming in pain, but pain he knew. He was still weakened, but the shackled-in-the-bottom-of-sea feeling was fading by the second, washed away by his blood stream. He should be able to walk. His vision was still troubled and his eyes hard to keep open but the room didn't offer much to look at anyway. It was small and darkness too deep for him to pierce veiled most of it, but he still had a clear (or rather not so blurry) sight on the Spacemare.

"Okay. Best get out of here before she notice that I'm up again."

He had no sooner formulated the thought that the Spacemare turned back. He lacked the strength to facepalm himself but he depicted it vividly in his mind. The serf heartbeats echoed in is fins. His muscles twitched, full of adrenaline, ready to fight... The Spacemare was on him before he could react. She was on him before he could even see her move. There was a blur. Then he was between her hooves, being crushed by her unnatural strength.

"Did you see it? Did ya? Did ya?" she asked, shaking him for emphasis.

"Huh?" he tried.

"The fight! It. Was. Amazing! Your mistress was killing them like they were not even there! And then the psyker appeared and your mistress attacked him. Or maybe it was a she I'm not sure, since they didn't have a mane or tail, so it was hard to tell see?"

"Wha-"

"But anyway your mistress attacked but the psyker was shifting in and out of reality so your mistress got really pissed and then she caught him just as he left out of wherever he was hiding and she punched him so hard even I felt it!"

"Wai-"

"Then she grabbed him and asked him where you were. I can say she was pretty pissed because I could hear her from here, and I can tell you we're pretty damn far. That's when the psyker used some sort of spell to chain her, and a cultist tried to shoot her with a big gun."

"Wh-"

"I'm sure she'd have avoided it, but I didn't want to take the chance so I killed him. She was very surprised but she kept fighting and since she knew I was there I told myself 'oh what the buck! I might as well help her!' and then I shot anyone that tried to bother her while she fought. IT. WAS. AMAZING!"

Sensing a pause in the unending flow of words, Spike took his chance : "Wait... Did you say you helped Twilight?"

"Well duh! What did you expect? That I shot her? Don't be silly Spike!"

"You know my name?

"Of course I do! you told it to me yourself!"

"Wha-... Who are you?"

A malicious grin appeared on the mare face. Without a word, she put her hoof on her chest, tapping it, as if to show him something. It took him a second to click.

"No way..."

The grin became a huge smile. She was about to say something when her attention got diverted.

"Oh! She's coming! This is gonna be so exciting! Say, are you feeling better?"

"Well..."- he flexed his arms. The pain and numbness were still present but nothing a good rest wouldn't shake. "I guess I'm okay..."

"Good! Wouldn't want to greet your mistress with you all poisoney and tired would we?"

"I guess not..."

"Here take this," she said while shoving her weapon in his arm. Surprise, poison-induced fatigue and the simple fact that the weapon was twice as big as him almost made him fall.

"Why are you giving me this?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Well duh! Your mistress is coming and I wouldn't want her to think I'm her enemy!"

There was no arguing there.

**~o~**

The hoofsteps echoed in the air. The pace was slow and deliberate. The Equustode wanted her arrival to be known. There was not a sound in response, but she knew she was on the right track. Ballistic was not her primary interest but, as in almost all academic fields of study, she excelled in it. And as most of the time, she was right. The room was small, hard to see from afar but giving a excellent vision to anypony going in this direction and, more importantly, it was raised compared to the place where she fought, permitting well adjusted shots from above the shelves.

"Nice..." the unicorn admitted. "I wonder how much time it took to prepare all this."

The Equustode came inside, her weapon glowing. The time for answer was long due.

The room was bigger than she expected. The lack of disorder that characterised the place made it look spacious, despite the presence of two genetically-enhanced mares and a dragon inside. There was plenty of hiding places for weapons and various gears, while permitting it to be easily defended. Twilight guessed there was another entrance, hidden somewhere to permit a swift retreat. This place was well organised. Twilight saw all this and more. But this was all taking place in her subconscious. Right now two things monopolised her attention, competing for her brain power and emotions.

The first stood at her right side in the form of Spike, a sniper rifle too big for him to use in his arms. The dragon seemed fine at the first glance, but his Lady knew better. He was doing a good job at hiding it but he was exhausted. He was stiff and uncomfortable, his legs and arms were quivering at the effort of carrying the gun. His eyes were sightly out of focus and his scales were discoloured at some place. Twilight could list twenty poisons that would do that to him. Fortunately, none of them were lethal nor permanently incapacitating. They looked at each other with a relief they both tried to hide.

"Monitor," she said.

"Lady Twilight Sparke," he answered.

"Are you okay?" she asked, trying to hide her concern."Tough as a dragon, my Lady," he smiled, which was code for : "I'm weakened but I'll survive and I can still do my duty".

The hint of a smile appeared on her muzzle. _Good boy_.

It faded as soon as she turned toward the other presence in the room, her frustration overwriting any other emotion.

The pink mare was sit a few meters in the distance, her position relaxed and unthreatening. Her now familiar black cloak was open, revealing a light power armour of the same colour, save for two white shoulder plates, and no weapons. Yet it didn't really appeased Twilight. Even sheathed a sword was still a sword and a Spacemare stayed a killing machine. And just as she had suspected, the pink earth warpony was beyond any doubt a Spacemare.

But it was not the attitude nor the whole situation that was the most unsettling thing for the Equustode. She was prepared for that.

She wish she could have say the same about her identity. Despite the change of mane style and of attire... The size, posture and colour scheme was hard to mistake.

"You have my thanks for your timely intervention," she ventured, trying to open the dialogue. The Spacemare beamed and nodded. "I assume Pain Keeper is not your real name?" she continued.

"You're correct~," the earth pony sang. "Though you can call me this if you want. But my true name's Pinkamena Diane Pie. Or 'Pinkie' for short. Easier to say on the battlefield."

Twilight's eyebrow twitched. "I had a very long and frustrating day, 'Pinkie'," she said as calmly as possible. "I give you a minute to tell me who you are and what this is all about."

Spike tried to warn her mistress of the mistake she was doing, but the Spacemare beat him to it. The pink mare smile got broader. She took a deep breath and did exactly what was asked of her.

"It all started when I was tailing those cultists. Took me months. So I was busy getting clues, doing some sabotages and key eliminations when I learned about your arrival and that you were supposed to check the planetary defences, which had a surprisingly convenient timing, since the cultists were somehow getting more active!"

"Huh?"

"So I prepared everything so you could see how hard I work to keep the planet safe. Then I came toward you but you were all pensive and you said out loud 'All I want now is to report to the Empress.'," she quoted in a perfect Twilight's imitation, " and I was like 'I wouldn't do that if I were you.''

"It was you..."

"Which is true," continued the Spacemare ignoring Twilight interventions, "since I wouldn't have been able to show you my work so if I were you I would have given myself a chance! So as I was about to pick you up and make you come for an ambush on the cultists I lured into the archives, one pony sent a grenade at your hoof."

"Wait..."

"And then you got all flashy and teleporty and you got away with it and it was awesome, but while you were gone, the pegasus, did I mention it was a pegasus? Anyway he drugged your Monitor and tried to kill him, or maybe just capture him for interrogation which is worse since they'd have killed him after anyway."

"Wha-"

"So I had no choice but to intervene since you were all flashing and flying with a grenade. So I killed him and took your Monitor with me so you'd follow me. and it worked! Except when you attacked me... That part was kinda scary. But I survived so it's okay. I guess I should have taken time to explain everything to you but I think I got a little carried away... Anyway, you found the cultists, we killed them and now you're here."

She ended her tirade with a wide smile. Twilight merely blinked, her brain struggling to process the flow of words. The story of the Spacemare made sense. At least the substance of it. Supposing that it was true, there was still some points to check, and it would be easy to confound her if she was lying.

"Let's suppose I believe you," she started, "why are you not on the list of Spacemares I have to check on?"

"Well duh! I am on it! You just didn't check on the right places! What kind of intelligence pony I would be if my name was in the official, easy to access list!"

Twilight nodded slowly, forced to admit there was sense in that logic. But she was still not convinced.

"Can I access those files then?".

"Of course!" the earth pony beamed. "File name : Pinkamena Diane Pie. Access code : 16-1-18-20-25 8-1-18-4. Oh! And don't let the "file not found" fool you."- She whispered loudly with an accomplice posture -"It's just to make sure nopony go pry in there."

"Got that Spike?" Twilight asked, doing her best to ignore the pink mare antic.

"On it."

It took a few seconds for Spike to access the files and find the answers they looked for.

"Pinkamena Diane Pie, Intelligence pony. Specialised in information gathering, infiltration, exfiltration, assassination, troop support, sabotage, trapping, tracking and tailing. In service for eighty-seven years in Ponyville. There's even her old chapter record. Very impressive by the way. I see nothing out of place Twilight."

The unicorn nodded once again.

"Well. I guess you showed me what you're capable of. Keep up the good work. Now I'm going back to my quarter if you don't mind."

"Oh sure! Here, let me guide you!"

Twilight hesitated a moment before agreeing. The mare was not the most sane she'd met, but she appeared to be loyal. That was enough. For now.

"Lead the way, Pinkamena Diane Pie."

"Okidoki. Hey did I told..."

"In silence please."

The now familiar smile appeared on the pink face.

Surprisingly enough, she did exactly just that.

* * *

**PV-01**  
**DP Battalion barracks, training grounds**

PDF versus orbital defence had always been a heated point of discussion between strategists. As far as Applejack was concerned, even though the ships in orbit or the pegasus vessels above her head where the first line of defence against threats, it was ultimately up to the DP battalion and the ponies on the ground to make sure the planet would not fall in enemies hooves, hands or claws. To her detriment yet, the regiments on her supervision were seriously lacking. Not in term of equipment (thanks to Rarity) nor training or fighting will (she had made sure of that). The problem was raw number. It saddened her sometime to see that a few hundred more regulars would just improve the efficiency of the whole place many times over. Unfortunately she was to do without them, and face the fact that the barracks would not be used to its full efficiency. The training ground for instance, would stay desert for hours each days. A waste, often leaving it for the Spacemare alone to use it. It had perks, but she couldn't help but wishing she could do more.

The earth warpony let the thought die and shifted her attention back to the sphere in her hooves. A serie of "bip"s and "clic"s were the only signof the Spacemare's work. After a minutes of work, the sphere bipped a few time and shut silent. Given the Spacemare frown it was not the expected result.

"Darnit..." she cursed to herself. "Next time, Ah'll ask Rarity to use her fancy magic to set up this thingy. This looks way simpler when she does it..."- She let the device fall on the floor, next to the dismantled pieces of her weapon, a disgruntled look on her face. -"Ah guess Ah'll go with something else tonight."

In truth, it was not the complexity of the device that caused problems to the mare.

Somepony was watching her. It had just been a gut feeling at first, something she could have dismissed on the visit of the Equustode or the guardponies around her. But even now that she was alone, she could still feel the skin-crawling touch of ponies glare on her back... And something in her guts told her it was not the usual admiring attention she occasionally got from new bloods. Those were usually bad at hiding and prone to (rather badly) hushed praises on her marksmanship. The silent treatment she was receiving was getting unnerving. Applejack sighed.

"Listen, partner," she articulated to her presumed stalker. "Ah dunno what ya want but I give ya ten seconds to get out of here before Ah make ya."

Five second passed without any change.

"Half time."

Four more seconds passed.

"Ah warned ya."

At those words four ponies left their hiding places. Two of them were of the Battalion. She knew them. Twin pegasi, promising but rather discrete, assigned to patrols and scouting. A earth pony and a unicorn. While the former was unknown to her - _probably a miner_ \- she had some vague recollection of the latter. They all wore cloaks and bore their best nonchalant faces.

Had somepony came just at that moment, it would have looked like a bunch of fillies caught stealing from the cookie jar. But Applejack knew better. The darkness and the ample clothes could not conceal the weapons underneath. The cold wind of the night could not hide the familiar smell of fear and adrenaline nor could its soft whistling damper their loud heartbeats. They were here for bad reasons, and for the Spacemare it was written all over them like a bad poker face.

"Ah give y'all one chance to explain. Y'all better say the truth."

Nervousness went up a notch. The ponies glanced at each other, daring the other to talk. Finally one of the pegasi tried. "I don't know what you mean we just..."

"Ah warned y'all..." interrupted Applejack, shaking her head.

Her twin hearts pumped massive dose of chemicals in her enhanced physiology, as almost a ton of muscles and amour charged. The earth ponies struggled with their clothes, trying to reach the weapon beneath them. They failed. They were dead soon after. The twins fared better. They jumped out of the way of the Spacemare, getting rid of the cloak and taking off in one go. The earth warpony sneered.

_Mah training used against me... That's irony for ya._

Applejack assessed the situation.

They'd come prepared. That was obvious. Flying targets were always a pain in the flank to deal with, even with her heavy bolter and right now, she couldn't even count on it. She'd have to do with two defensive grenade and a combat knife. They, on the other hoof, had come with crude plasma pistols. It was time to get creative.

The pegasi knew they had an advantage and they pressed it. Shifting in the air above the mare, they made plasma rain not unlike the paleo weather-control patrols of Canterlot. The Spacemare avoided the shots. It helped that the weapons were of poor craftmanship. And that the twins were simply lousy shots while airborne. Applejack was biding her time, - _a few more shots now_\- preparing for her counter-attack.

The opportunity came as she expected, in the form of a sudden hiss followed by a cry of pain. There was a pause in the attack. It lasted four seconds. One of the pegasus let go of her overheated weapon, and the other slowed to check on his sister. Four seconds. Instants for a pony in a fight. Hours for an Horsetarte.

The first grenade hit the first one in the face. Shrapnel tore it to shred, killing him right away. The second one detonated next to the other pegasus left wing. The deflagration and shards of metal tore the limb, forcing her on the ground.

Applejack walked to her, neither hurried nor slow. Her calm glaze faced the hate-filled one of the crippled foe.

"Y'all made three mistakes here partner," she started. "One, plasma weapons tend to overheat."- she kicked the fallen plasma pistol nonchalantly. -"Two, y'all should have trained more," she continued, now standing next to Chrome Cloud. "And third, -" her hoof lifted above her foe's head "- y'all should have chosen a better prey."

The hoof fall with a sickening sound.

"Always a uninspired idea to pick on apex predators," added a familiar voice behind her. "Isn't it dear?"

"Better us... than somepony else..." added a vox.

Applejack turned calmly around to face the newcomers. It took her a glance to see they had to face the same... annoyance. Blood soiled the yellow platings of Fluttershy's forelegs. Same as her. As for Rarity, her servo-arms were now equipped with weapons instead of crafting tools. This in itself smelled as bad as timberwolf shit.

"Miss Rarity, Miss Fluttershy," she greeted, acknowledging the Spacemare and Dreadnought.

"Very nice shots Applejack, I must say," praised the Techmare. "Such precision! I feared that you'd require our help but as always your skill is more than enough."

"Y'all too kind on me. It was stupid of me to be unarmed. Plus I wouldn't have minded the help."

"And sabotage such a skilful display? Nonsense, dear."

"..." buzzed the vox. "We... didn't want to interrupt your fight," said the Dreadnought.

"Don't fret over it. We all fight for the Empress. Mah fights are yours."

"Well said, darling," commented Rarity, passing a hoof in her mane. "Now do you have any idea of what is happening?"

"Not a bucking clue. I was hoping y'all would know."

"..." buzzed the vox.

"I have no idea either. I was mid-maintenance with Fluttershy when a bunch of ruffians barged in my atelier."

"Ouch..."

A feral smile appeared on Rarity's face. "Indeed."

"..." the vox buzzed again.

"Yet these attacks don't bode well. There's something fishy 'bout them."

"You don't say. Attacking the three of us? Looks like someone is trying to sabotage the planetary defences to me."

"Girls..."

Both Spacemares turned back to the sarcophagus. "Sorry Fluttershy, did you want to say something?"

"Look into the skies..."

"What?" both mares answered as they did exactly that.

"Doesn't it bother that the stars are going out?"

Silence grew thick as they witnessed exactly that.

"That can't be good."

"Nope. Not good at all."

* * *

**PV-01**  
**Cloudsdale aerial defence base**

"I will not repeat myself anymore, who are you working for?"

The voice thundered into the air, making the walls shudder.

It was easy to forget that Rainbow Dash was a Spacemare. She was always cheerful and so close to the ponies around her that they just forgot her upbringing. Seeing her angry, a mangled pegasus at the end of her hoof, was a brutal reminder to all ponies around her. They were fifty. All the chain of command, crowded around her. The balcony was barely enough to contain them. Still here they stood. They were witnessing the scene unfolding before their eyes without a word.

"Wanna play tough? Guess what?"

She let go the wingless pegasus at the end of her hoof.

"The ground's tougher."

She didn't even bother watching the fall. Her attention was already on the next pony. The stallion was whimpering pathetically on the ground. He was desperately looking at the soldiers around him, trying to find some help from the mortals. He found none. Only contempt and anger. Yet this seem preferable than to face the Spacemare's glare.

"Look at me," she demanded.

The calm in her voice was somehow scarier than her recent outbursts. The earth pony, a young recruit by the name of Hazy Armour, desperately fought his cowardise and turned his head toward the mare but refused to look into the purple eyes fixing her chest instead.

"LOOK AT ME TRAITOR!"

The pony instantly lift his eyes. He regretted it instantly. What he saw was disappointment out of any proportion and the death it had brought on him. If only he had not listened to the twins... If only he had come to her... Regrets filled him. It was too late. If only he had come to her.

"Who are you working for. Tell. Me."

"I don't know!" the words left his mouth on their own. "I swear! Chrome Cloud and Steel Wind came to me! They said they worked for the betterment of the Imperium! That the Moon was coming back to bring order and justice into the Galaxy! They told me I could make a difference! I didn't know I would have to do that! That's all I know! I swear!"

"Is that all you know?"

"That's all I know I swear! That's all I know... I swear that's all I know..."

"Good."

"Soldier, your weapon," she asked to nopony in particular.

A pistol appeared on her hoof an instant later. The barrel was put on the pony's temple.

"No traitor."

Without a hint of hesitation, she pressed the trigger. The detonation resonated in the room, deafening at such a distance but dwarfed by the Spacemare's words. There were few rules under Dash. "No traitor" was the first.

The silence grew thick. It took a running mare barging into the open space to break the stillness. She was out of breath and her mane was a mess. By the look of it she had gone through half of Cloudsdale to reach the Spacemare.

"My Lady, I'm sorry to bother you..." she started, between two heavy breaths.

"I'm not in the mood... spit it!" the Spacemare cringed.

"We have a problem..."

"Spit it!"

"The planet is under attack," the messenger gulped.

"What?"

"The Dusk Squadron signalled an attack," she summarised. "There is a huge, still unidentified vessel that appeared in orbit from nowhere. Moreover several of the frigates were boarded by unknown enemies. We suspect an Eldeer attack, but we're waiting confirmation."

The rainbow-maned pegasus frowned. Then regain her calm.

"Okay mares and stallions listen up. I want this whole planet on alert and I want to know exactly what we face as soon as possible."- She turned toward her Communicator. -"You! I want you to contact my Sisters. Tell them I need to see them as soon as possible."

"Sir! Yes, sir!" the pony answered, already opening the communication link.

She turned again, this time toward her second in command.

"Colonel, you're on charge while I'm gone. Do not disappoint me."

"I wouldn't dream of it my Lady," he answered, the scar that barred his face giving his smile a terrifying aspect.

"I know what you dream of and it's not pretty," she joked.

"Except when I dream of you maybe," he countered.

Her signature, confident smile was back again on her face.

"Try not to be too lame, Ivory," she joked as she jumped of the platform.

"I wouldn't dream of it."


	8. Chapter 06 - Voices and sacrifices

**PV-01 orbit**

**Dusk of Hope**

It ran, or rather fumbled at very high speed on its way too numerous limbs, inside corridors and through closed doors.

Reality had ceased to make sense. Or maybe It wasn't able to comprehend reality anymore. The constricting walls of the ships had lost part of their substance, leaving room for things that were not from the right side of sanity. The world was now filled with distorted faces, glaring at It with their blank eyes, forever lost and wandering; it was filled with gusts of non existent wind, that would incessantly caress its fur and the skin beneath, drawing a crawl on its fevered skin; it was filled with blood, forever spilled from some unknown wound in the fabric of reality, overloading its heightened smell...

But most of all, it was filled with the voices.

At first, memories would help the creature out of this madness. Memories of another life. Hours ago. Already an aeons to It.

_Doors closing. Anger. Warmth... an artefact? The call of Unspace... And pain... so much excruciating, unending, pain... Then power, flowing inside her... and the voices..._

Now, those were no more than incoherent memory-screams, insufferable white noise for a corrupt brain. Those didn't matter. There were only killing and the objectives. Those were the only things that mattered. Everything else was filled with the voices... The creature ran faster hoping that soldiers would somehow try to catch It. Gods, It would even turn back on its hooves and claws, if only It could somehow kill the ponies It had already slain. Killing always soothed the voices. They left It alone when it killed. But they'd always come back. No escape. You can't run from the voices. They were always here. They always found you. They never really stopped.

"Running from me Scream?" said one-of-the-voices.

"Shut up!" It shouted.

"Oh sorry... do I bother you?" that-particular-voice continued.

"Shut up!"

Somewhere in the distance, another voice screamed. That voice always screamed.

"I feel like I'm bothering you".

"SHUT. UP!"

"If I'm bothering you, you just have to say it."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

The voice chuckled. "Make me!"

"Pox I swear..."

A voice shouted its devotion to the ruinous powers. That one was the less nerve grating of the lot.

"What?" mocked the voice "If I don't shut up, you'll exert your Ô frightening wrath on poor little old me? But guess what? YOU CAN'T!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Face it Death Scream! You're trapped with me for as long as it pleases me and oh by the Nine Heads of Nurgle do I love it!"

"SHUT UP! BY THE GODS SHUT UP!"

"Call them as much as you want, Scream. I. Am. Not. Leaving. You will suffer my presence and I will enjoy every seconds of it."

It-that-had-been-Death-Scream shrieked. And it didn't stop.

The-voice-of-Small-Pox laughed. And it didn't stop.

* * *

Rolling Die was caught in a loop.

Send a message to the vessels via the emergency communicator. Wait the authorised time. Check on the augur. Wait some more. Get no answer. Signal it to the room. Back to the begining.

Her task had never left room for much initiative nor change, but THIS was getting ridiculous. Yet she repeated the set of instructions. It somehow managed to keep her distracted from the reality outside of the screens. The familiar buzzing of the command deck was becoming alien to her. Something akin to despair and anger was spoiling it. She hated it. So she focused on her task, akin to the lobotomised ponies around her. Do steps one to six. Loop to step one. The mare clenched her teeth as she launched yet another scan. This was so infuriating! Surely something could be done! She took a glance at Typhoon Snivel, momentarily snapping from her trance.

And for an instant, everything was back to normal. The Captain was watching over them, and the Empress over him. He looked as calm and resolute as ever. A rock even in the midst of a tempest. His red, artificial, lenses pierced the room, checking each and everypony, assessing their work... Just as usual. His flask was back at his at his side, untouched. Everything was going to be okay. Everything _was_ okay.

The unicorn's eyes locked with her and she realised she had forget about her routine. She didn't waver though. She peered into the augmentics, looking for a sign. Anything. Anything at all.

"Is something the matter operator?"

If the eyes were the windows of the soul, the optics were foggy tinted one at best. One thing transpired from them however. Unwavering resolution.

"No-nothing." she stuttered, taking her attention back to the screen. "Nothing, sir. Still no answer."

Everything was going to be okay. She had to believe that.

"How much time do we have until it reach the bridge?" Typhoon asked the closest servitor.

"Estimations give us between thirty-one and one hundred and seventy-one minutes, sir," the pony recited in its monocord, robotic, voice.

"Where is it now?"

"Energy readings : two-hundred meters from the sector D13, Warp drives. Fifty-two metres margin of error. Sound screenings : one-hundred and eighty four metres meters from the sector D13, Warp drives. Fourteen meters margin of error. Vibration sensors..."

Typhoon Snivel ignored the rest of the servitor's listing. He was already lost in his thoughts.

Locking the ship had had little success. It had stopped the thing for a moment but the creature was intent in making a mockery of the captain's efforts. After half an hour of respite, it had started cut through the reinforced doors. Ultimately it had simply stopped to care and got through them, butchering anypony in its way. So far it had gone through the communication centre and was heading to the Warp engines. He didn't know why and he didn't care. He had to find a way to stop the creature before it decided to come here.

His face stayed stoic as his mind raced, trying to find a way out. There was always a way. What stopped most ponies from seeing it was the price to pay to reach it. To win required sacrifices. He had learned this lesson the hard way. His metallic legs were a grim reminder of the price one sometimes had to pay, to ensure others would not have to. Thus Typhoon Snivel, captain of the Dusk of Hope, was slowly raising his bets. He checked on his crew with a neutral face, while gauging the value of their life as well as his. Seconds (minutes? hours?) passed as he did that. Somehow, he doubted that even the thousands of ponies present would suffice. The creature would massacre them all. The small hallways would become its playground and the bigger rooms would just give it more opportunities to wreck havoc in the ship.

He had to see bigger. It didn't like what he saw.

"Sir. It has reached the Warp Drive."

There was an ominous moment of silence. All faces turned toward the captain, waiting his order. To his relief, his mask was still in place. He spoke slowly, with a calm that didn't reflect his current state of mind :

"Gather all the troops and all the servitors we can afford to lose to the Sector D12, D11, E13 and C13. Only maintain whoever is vital to keep the ship alive, preferably servitors. Prepare everypony else for evacuation. We will have only one shot at this."

All the ponies present acknowledged and relayed his orders. Relief and excitement had momentarily overrided fear.

There was no turning back now.

* * *

The Warp engines could be felt before they would be seen. Even dormant, their roars echoed hundreds of metres in the distance, like the snoring of some gigantic sleeping beasts. As one would get closer, they would smell the thick odour of the sacred oils used by the Marechanicum to anoint, bless and maintain the holy machines and the spirit that inhabited them. But those, as impressive as they were, were dwarfed by the sight of the machinery. Pillars (so high their summit had to be guessed rather than seen) vibrated in the air, making it dense, filled with a low unequine note. They would sometimes discharge in the air, spewing lightning and hot plasma-like matter on another pillar. The sight would be beautiful and humbling, if a mortal eye could stand such a fiery display. Ponykind had grasped the galaxy thanks to these machineries. In return they screamed their pride with an overloading nonchalance.

The creature didn't care. None of that mattered. It wasn't paying attention to the noise, the rumble nor the lightning. Even the servitors around It barely managed to catch its attention. The abomination killed them by reflex more than intent. None of those things mattered for It felt none of them. The madness around her had left place to something else. There was no blood, no faces and no voices. Only the thousand-sun brilliance emanating from the room. It-that-had-changed stumbled in the room, a sudden weakness invading its body.

The memory-screams were more focused now. They were almost understandable.

It-she had to be here. It-she had to bring something here. Something that pulsed inside it-her, filled its-her body with unholy vigour. It-Death-Scream approached the closest pillar and felt the influence of the Warp pour out of it-her body toward the engines.

The promise of freedom put an ugly smile on it-her deformed head.

**~o~**

Newly promoted Sergeant Starry Glow damned her bad luck. First they were boarded by some damn abomination. Then Sergeant Hard Diamond, Lance Steel, Wintersong and Onyx Sky died. Making her the troop leader by default.

"As if I would want it!" she thought bitterly "The four previous died less than two hours ago, by the stars!"

Yet there were nothing she could do about it. Only take the title and obey orders.

"Stupid Hard Diamond and his principles," she complained in her breath. "Everypony should do their share! I will go as any of you!" she mimicked. "Great good it has done him! Dead, and all his closest ponies with him! Stupid idealist fool... Now what? I must somehow be good enough, be better than the four of you, and try not to die?"

There was a pause in the rant as the pegasus penetrated her new room. It was just as she remembered it. Clean and tidy, just as Hard Diamond's mind. A small desk resided in the centre of the room, some files carefully disposed on it. Apart from that, were a small bed, a mirror and four boxes. She ignored the boxes. She could guess their content and she was in no hurry to verify her hypothesis. She instead went closer to the mirror, checking her reflection. she put a hoof on it, as to comfort the midnight-blue pegasus in front of her. She let her head touch the glass, creating a wall of white hair between her and the desperate-looking mare in the mirror.

"To protect the vessel..." she chastised herself softly. "You have to be good enough to protect the vessel. There's more than your life at stake here..."

The mare took a deep breath to calm her mind. She had to get a grip on herself. After all, she might face the Empress judgement soon. She'd better do her best and, maybe, her bravery would turn the mind-eye of the Empress on her?

_One can dream._

The moody pegasus finally reached to the boxes, finding the personal belongings of her predecessors. There was not much. Some personalised pieces of equipment, decorations (a few) and trinkets of personal importance (fewer). Their whole life was now summarized here. Starry Glow dodged the morbid train of thoughts before it got to her. She also chose to ignore the fact that her new flak armour had been Lance Steel's. Among the deceased leaders, Lance Steel "luckily" had both wings and her body type. Hard Diamond and Onyx Sky were both bulky earth pony. Even her wings wouldn't cover the gap in size. Not that she would try, the simple idea of having them trapped made her claustrophobic. She didn't even bother considering Wintersong for her gear. The slim unicorn was simply not an option.

She was (to her shame) getting used to it. The protection was sightly bulkier than her old counterpart, yet it almost felt lighter. Signs of its better craftsponyship were subtle but noticeable. Same could be told for the rest of her new gear. From her boot to the assault shotgun of her deceased peers, she felt like a whole new pony. In the outside anyway. For a second she had considered letting these, by respect for the dead, if not _not_ to be seen as an opportunist by her ponies. Pragmatism had got the better of her. Stupid ideals were, after all, what killed her predecessors.

Starry Glow waited a minute in front of the door leading to the soldiers quarters. It took a couple of deep breath to calm her nerves enough to be able to open it.

The sight inside made her consider leaving. This was not going to be easy. She fought the concern invading her face as best as she could. A quarter of the troop was missing. It was hard enough that the leaders had been killed... Everypony here had lost comrades in arm. The empty spaces were useless and painful reminders. She slowly got to the centre of the room, watching the soldiers. Her soldiers. They were staring at her too. They were counting on her, expecting her to... do something.

_Empress! Sergeant Diamond did you have to face that every time we had to fight?_

She faced their stare. Grief and reluctance were on most faces. Fear too. Some managed to make a resolute expression but they were lost in a sea of defeated-looking ponies. For a moment she wondered which face she was making. She left the question aside, afraid to know the answer. She was the troop leader now. Her job now was to put a brave face and make believe.

"Fillies and colts." she started, trying to emulate the example her predecessors, "you know the orders, but I'll repeat them anyway. Our mission is to engage the creature, if we're the lucky one who find it, and to lure it to the prepared location. Then it's straight to fall back position. We do it good, we do it fast and we all can brag about it later. Kinda like your imaginary sex life."

She had added the last sentence in her breath, not really willing to share the jest with anypony else. To her surprise, the front row started to laugh. It spreads rapidly to the whole assembly. It was not much. Small chuckles and enthusiast smirks, but it didn't matter to Starry Glow. The tension was gone.

"Stars... _This_ worked?" she mused. "Maybe I can do it after all..."

The mare looked at the mares and stallions in front of them. They looked more determined now. So was she.

"Soldiers. Time to go."

**~o~**

Existence was changing around around Death Scream. It was turning back. The world was now slowly regaining sense, sometimes tainted with flashes of otherworldly insanity. Like a dark night illuminated by a passing thunderstorm.

She was still unsure about what happened. Death Scream had been a Spacemare for centuries. In this laps of time, she had witnessed unfathomable atrocities. She had inflicted her fair share of them in the name of the Gods. She thought she was jaded. Yet she was not in no hurry to dig further into the matter. She didn't even want to think about it... The voices were gone... That's al that mattered.

**~o~**

The invader was and hideous parody of ponykind. Twice as big as a pony and as wide as it was tall, covered with appendages and tentacles and awkwardly standing on seven? eight? ten? legs. The picture was completed by several little heads resting on elongated necks, akin to tentacles, hovering around the main one. Like a council whispering advice to their ruler. It was the stuff of nightmares, it was merely thirty metres apart and it was infecting the machinery with tendrils of foul energy flowing from it to the closest engine, altering it in some nefarious ways. And it was spreading. Each time the generator discharged, it pulsed with the same miasma the creature was pouring into it.

Starry Glow was observing it with horror and fascination. Her hoof gripped her weapon a little tighter. The creature had not noticed them yet. Seven squads had been sent to "make contact" with the creature. Starry Glow thought that the odd would somehow tip in her favour for once. This was not her day. Ten minutes had been enough to confirm its presence, making them the brave, "willing", souls that would be lucky enough to engage it.

"Awesome..." she muttered despite herself.

Everypony was getting into position. Taking advantage of the cover the room provided. Starry took a quick glance at them

"Wait my signal," she ordered with a gesture of her hoof.

**~o~**

Death Scream was getting close to her release. The energy that had accumulated in her was withering. She could even feel her body weaken and quake as the unholy powers that sustained her new, deformed, metabolism faded. It didn't matter right now. A few more seconds now and she would be free. Soon... Another discharge of plasma illuminated the room as if to celebrate her liberation. The abomination got on her hindlimbs and lashed out, screaming, in joy this time, and flaying her many legs in the air.

Death Scream felt the burns with an almost comical surprise. Starry Glow didn't fare much better. Laser weapons are quiet ones. Yet the shots somehow silenced the room.

Creature and Sergeant turned at the same time, astonished. Both were watching the same pony. The Sergeant was not even sure the pony in question was the only one to have shot or even if she had shot at all. The only thing pointing to her was her weapon, resting uselessly at her hooves. The small trembling pegasus was watching the beast with fright. What could have gone through this fickle mind the recently promoted officer wondered. Was she looking for fame? Did she panic? What in the Empress' name made her screw up so bucking hard? She raised her head, catching the incredulous glare of the creature and gulped.

The mutant Spacemare was experiencing new levels of fury. Inside her, something snapped. She could feel the Aether flow in her once again, alimented by her rage, which in turn made her even more angry. The taste of her denied freedom was still lingering on her tongue. It tasted like ash and broken promises.

"Hello Death Scream." mocked a familiar voice. "Did you miss me?"

It-that-rages shrieked.

The unequine sound hit the troop like a shock wave, shattering cohesion and discipline.

Starry Glow didn't realised she was running. Not before she heard the sound of crushed bones and tore flesh. They were all fleeing. She could not see them, but she could feel them. A scream echoed behind her. The beast was closing on them. It was closing on her. The pegasus ran. Her wings were glued on her back. So she ran. Her lungs were filled with fire, her muscles with molten lead and her fur with warm sweat. But she, and all her troop, ran. For stopping meant death. So they fled through corridors and narrow halls. And the creature picked them. One. By. One. And every time she wondered if she was the next.

The abomination ran, its disproportionate and difformed body barely fitting in the corridors. Small creatures (ponies? ants?) ran in front of It. Somehow, their existence was an offence to the creature. Their screams, their disgusting smell of fear polluting the air... It had to erase them from existence. Maybe this sacrifice would appease the voices? It-that-rages caught an ant-pony with a barbed tendril. The limb sank deep in the meat, crushing the muscles muscles beneath. The ant-pony whelped in surprise as pain flooded their nervous system. More tentacles, hooves and claws, talons and paws, limbs of every sorts grabbed. The ant-pony squirmed against the grip, only making it stronger. Flesh and bones started to break and blood leaked through every orifice it could find. Blood egressed through the tight grip. A smile grew on the creature's heads. There was a wet muted sound as the clench tightened tenfold. Pulp, flesh and broken bones rained on the creature.

"That... felt... good." The thought-scream emerged somewhere in the consciousness of the beast. "Again."

Starry Glow had lost track of time. Her desperate escape was punctuated by the loud pounding of her heart and the audible death of her soldiers. The only thing that mattered now was to arrive at one of the rendez-vous point. She couldn't be far!

There was a turn. And a pony died.

There was another turn. Another pony died.

Two other ponies died in the long corridor that followed. Starry Glow's heart was about to burst.

There was another turn... and she was there.

She almost fell. Relief almost overriding her of her surviving instinct. Almost. She kept going. Her body pleaded for her to stop, but she continued. Dozens of servitors flooded the place and opened the way above her and closed right after she passed. Her prize was at hoof, right behind the corner, only a dozen metres left. The creature was getting close. She could hear the new slaughter starting right behind her. The mutant rage seemed fuelled by new victims, rather than appeased. Starry Glow dragged her body along the wall, her body heavier by the second. It took her an eternity to reach to passage, and two more to get passed it, but she did.

The wall shut behind her. There was no sound. The mare kept going, shuffling in the empty corridors. She had to evacuate the ship.

Newly promoted Sergeant Starry Glow started to cry. She was the only survivor of her troop.

* * *

Typhoon Snivel listened to the vox with undivided attention. He listened to ponies dying in the line of duty. He didn't shy away from the graphic imagery these small bit of communication evoked. It was the least he could do to honour the sacrifice he asked of them.

Despite a few hiccups, the first part of his plan had worked. The creature was so engrossed with its massacres that it wouldn't even stop to think. The captain had already managed to make it follow a closed circuit, giving him and the crew more than enough time to evacuate the perimeter. Now was the moment to end this.

"Start phase two," he ordered. "I want everyone out of here in ten minutes."

Everypony obeyed without asking questions.

_Empress protect us._

* * *

The abomination ran in the corridors, going from a senseless butchery to another. The ants-ponies were barely a challenge but it didn't matter. It had to kill. To soothe the voices. So mindless ants-ponies died. Small packs of them, erring every few hundred metres. And it would kill them and run to the next pack. But it was not enough. Not anymore. The snicker was back.

"I can't believe it! -" The voice laughed as if knowing some joke it refused to share. "- I knew you were stupid but this? This is priceless!"

It-that-errs didn't listen and killed one of the last servitor of the pack.

"Hehe! This is going to be funny."

Another servitor died.

"Wait for it."

Only two servitors remained.

"Just a little more."

The last mindless ant-pony fell, destroyed beyond recognition. The creature left its play ground full of broken toys an followed the corridor for another kill. The most annoying voice burst into a laugher that eclipsed all the previous ones. The Chaos-teinted Sparcemare paused, intrigued. The laughter last. Long. It finally stopped.

"You... you didn't realise didn't you?" the voice seemed genuinely baffled. "Here... let me show you."

It felt its body being pulled forward. It didn't resist. Maybe it was surprise, or curiosity. The voice dragged It inside the vessel walls. So lost It had been in its frenzy that It had forgotten that adamantium panels were no barrier for it. It didn't have to walk long. The place was not far. It could feel it before It saw it. Even corrupted, the Warp drives still roared. The Chaos-distorted brain clicked discordantly. It had been lured. Like a mere ant-pony.

"No! Nonono! Death scream!" the voice sneered. "Ponies have brains. Simple, archaic brains but still brains. You've been lured like the stupid moron you are!"

The creature didn't answer. For the first time since its creation, anger didn't make It lash out. It was still more wrathful by the second but this time it was focused. A simple thought emerged. The Captain of the ship had to die. It didn't know what a "Captain" was. It didn't care. It had to find him and kill him. And somehow It knew where to look.

It-that-seeks dashed through the vessel and for once, the voices stayed silent.

* * *

The plan was bold.

_'Borderline suicidal' would be a more appropriate descriptor_.

But just as its inceptor, it was brilliant and efficient; or so thought Rolling Die. But to trap and end a creature able to go through walls and an insatiable hunger for ponies flesh, one had to go with a little part of craziness in their plan. That was the part Rolling Die had to supervise. Out of all the members of the bridge still equipped with a brain, Rolling Die had been the one "randomly" chosen to prepare the last part of the plan. It was obvious that she would be : there was no random with her, she was always picked. There was no avoiding it. Whether it was for a menial task or the most important assignment, her name was the one that would be called in the end. Which didn't prevent her superior to still resort to random pick. Whether it was for their sick amusement or to break the spell (which from her standpoint, was the same thing) she had no idea. For once, however, she didn't mind. She wanted to carry Typhoon Snivel orders. Furthermore it was an easy task. Directing serfs was repetitive at worst but in no way as boring as her previous, tedious work on the Augur. All she had to do was to collect enough promethium to put a reasonable part of the ship on fire. And luckily burn the creature to the ground and send it back to the Chaos pit it should never have gone out of.

_Yeah. This is crazy._

Her communicator came alive, breaking her daydreaming.

"Operator!" Typhoon Snivel worried tone pierced through the distortion with ease. This Immediately put the mare on edge.

"Rolling Die, report-" she started.

"No time for that!" he interrupted abruptly. "Are you done yet?"

"Wha- Sir! We just started! We barely have enough to light the way for the creature!"

"Damnit!"

Years in his service. She had never heard him swear.

"Sir? What's wrong?"

"The plan is a bust. The creature is heading to the bridge. It will be there in less than twenty minutes."

"Sir, you need to evacuate!"

"I can't! -" The unicorn took a deep breath. "- Put me through the general channel. We need to find a solution. Ten minutes ago would be great."

Rolling Die did as asked. Her mind was light years away. New voices came live in the channel, giving birth to a heated debate. They were probably devising a new plan of action. She wasn't really following it, in fact she was barely aware of it. The Operator's mind was elsewhere completely. It was racing at a fevered pace on uncharted territories. An idea was emerging inside it, an horrible yet effective idea.

"We should send it back..."

The sudden silence made her realise she'd vocalised her thought. The Operator bit her lips, hoping they would ignore her. They didn't.

"Explain yourself." The voice of the Captain was calm again. Rolling Die liked him for it. Yet this time, it only made her hate herself. She would not escape.

"No! Huh... It's a stupid idea, sir. Forget I said anything."

"What is it?"

"It's a stupid idea, sir," she repeated. "And that's an understatement," she added mentally.

"Tell me."

"Sir... I can't..."

"Operator Rolling Die. Tell me. That's an order."

"We could sent it back to space..."

"Go on."

"By piercing a hole in the hull."

There was no laughter nor scream of outrage as she thought there would be. Only another silence.

"This could work," the Captain said. Rolling Die was regretting her mere existence now.

"Sir?" came a voice in the vox.

"This could work. The bridge is close to the hull so it's doable. We only need a weapon capable of breaching it."

"We... could throw one of the evacuation ship on it?" the Operator suggested.

_No sense in stopping now..._

"Excellent thinking, Operator."

"With all due respect, sir, I feel anything but clever right now." she muttered.

"It doesn't matter," he said softly. "Do what you must. You have five minutes. Snivel out."

She turned around and started to work.

* * *

The creature was hesitating.

This, was new. It was like an unscratchable itch inside its head. An urge to do something that it could not. Even the voices were silent. Even the-voice-that-mocks. It was breathing heavily in a corner of its head, its endless babble stuck in its throat. The doors were open. They'd been open for It. This did not mattered at all, yet it showed that something had changed. The insufferable itch became more insistent.

The voxes buzzed. It was a soft noise. Like a persistent bug, nagging the edge of what could count as the beast consciousness. But it soothed the itch. So the creature stopped, and listened. The message didn't come through immediately. After several seconds (minutes? hours?) it started to get agitated again, but its patience (or lack of impatience) paid.

The voice was calm and noble. It was a voice used to be listened to and obeyed. It had already heard voices like that. It hated them. Voices like that made It be here. Made It BE. Anger rose again. And the voices grew in strength with it.

"Creature." said the voxes in their calm _infuriating_ voice. "I am Typhoon Snivel. I am the captain of this vessel, which you boarded, sabotaged and which crew you slaughtered _kill! maim!_. You are an enemy of the Imperium and as such it is my duty to eliminate you. But as captain of the Dusk of Hope, it will be my pleasure _endless! endless pleasure!_."

It snarled madly.

In the distance, several door opened soundly. "Come _yes he comes, soon_. Come creature. Come face your punishment."

It-that-hates ran.

"It's a trap and you're a moron, Scream," stated the voice.

* * *

Rolling Die, and a consequent part of the crew, watched the Dusk of Hope. It had been her home for so long she had almost forgot what it was. Now, with the frigate revealed once more in its whole glory, she felt like she took it for granted... and the exact opposite. When she was inside, it fell like her whole world. It _WAS_ her whole world. Now, as the ship drifted in the distance, she found hard to believe so. In all her immensity, in all her grandeur, with her tarnished adamantium plates, her frightful armament, her powerful plasma thrusters... she was just a small frigate drifting in the void, only maintained alive by remnants of her crew. And that ship was now on collision course with another equally small frigate.

The Dusk of Hope, her home, was now a dying husk sent to die in a suicide mission. And she had permitted that the ship would be crippled further.

The small escaping ship cruising out of formation was now almost unrecognisable. Yet she knew well where it was going. Rolling Die felt no comfort with the presence of the crew watching the spectacle with her. From the moment she had programmed the servitors, she was alone. She alone had to bear the guilt.

**~o~**

Snivel and the creature were facing each other. Eighty metres of corridors separated them now. They both looked at each other, both unimpressed and scornful. The time for a long due reckoning was a mere seconds away.

The creature started its awkward lunge aiming for its prey...

At the other side, the officer drew his plasma pistol. It was a beautiful weapon, given for his services by the Marechanicum. His hoof grabbed the handle firmly, while his magic stabilised the weapon. Just like training. It feels strange to use the weapon after so much time. To use it at all. With a soft buzz, the weapon shot. Super heated matter flew toward...

The creature ran, appendages ready to strike. Something hot crashed on them. Pain came and went, but the rage subsisted. Half the distance had already been covered. Another shot came crashing into it, cutting a tentacle. It snarled and kept running. Soon it would be able to catch...

Captain Typhoon Snivel kept shooting at the beast, a quiet resignation invading his body. He hoped they could have done it in time, but...

There had been no signs. No sound. It just happened. One moment the creature was running. The next everything was crashing around It. Gravity ceased instantly. Instead, It felt a violent pull from above. Cuts and burns and shock pummelled the deformed body. It could not react nor understand. The last thing it saw before space claimed it for good was...

A satisfied smile flourished on Typhoon Snivel's muzzle. He was not one to bask into his own accomplishment, especially with such a heavy cost, but there was something pleasing about dragging the creature along the path he had chosen. This was the kind of revenge he could enjoy. The door shut. Fortunately for him, the servos had not been damaged by the crash. The same could not be said for his legs.

It was an odd thing to see the bionics broken. This time, he felt no pain nor sense of loss. They were just... broken pieces of metal attached to his chest, trapped under some rumble. Captain Typhoon Snivel absent-mindedly detached the prosthesis out of his body. Two ethereal limbs appeared in their stead. It had been years since he had not used this spell. Somehow, it feel better. Captain Typhoon Snivel took his rightful place on the bridge. For once, he indulged himself on the captain throne. He gave his orders. They were simple. Full thruster. Impact point chosen. Everything was in order. Captain Typhoon Snivel would die soon. But he didn't care. He had done his job. And where he was going, there was no coffee.

* * *

In the endless void, a creature drifted away.

The lack or air, the void and freezing cold were barely enough to hinder its supernatural regeneration. The creature was alive and trapped in a prison made of nothing. But the void was not the worst thing. The void was silent.

"OH GODS IT BURNS!"

**"Well, well, well. Once again you prove your stupidity Scream..."**

"He's coming. Oh yes he's coming."

It-that-drift said nothing.

"KILL! MAIM! KILL!"

**"Well maybe after a century or two you will start to show signs of intelligence."**

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

It stayed silent.

"OH GODS! MAKE IT STOP!"

**"After all we will likely spend a long, long time together."**

"SKULLS! FOR THE SKULLS THRONE!"

In the endless void, a it-that-had-been-Death-Scream tried to scream. But in the endless void, there is no air to scream.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Each chapter is an experiment, and there was just SO MUCH TO DO in this one! Also, it somehow grew longer as I wrote it... All things considered, this one was a fun, if not tedious, one... Hope you enjoyed it at least as much as I did.

The four incoming chapters are on the way. Three of them are rather short and all of them are sorta already partly written so... See you soon. I hope.

Bask in the light of the Empress, mortals.

_"Long shall be your suffering. Joyous be your pain."_

\- Asteroth, Daemon Prince of Slaaneigh

_"Let us play hide and slay!"_

\- The Nine Heads of Nurgle

_"There is no price too high to pay for the Imperium."_

\- Captain Typhoon Snivel.


	9. Interlude 02 - No more Hope I

**PV-01 Orbit**

Fifty-three vessels fled the _Dusk of Hope_. Fifty-one flew in tight formation descending to the planet their flagship was supervising. One collided with the hull, sending a warp-abomination in the void and trapping the captain of the _Dusk_ inside. The remaining vessel followed the frigate. Inside this vessel were only one mare and three servitors. Contrary to the rest of the crew, she had to carry some orders before leaving, making here quite alone in the ship. Which was exactly what she wanted at this instant.

Rolling Die struggled with the communicator, failing to do what she had trained to do even in her sleep. She very vocally blamed the primitive communicator for her difficulties. Once again, the activity kept her brain from assessing the recent turn of events. Digits and codes didn't judge. A satisfying series of bips finally indicated her that the communication was established.

The face of her captain appeared on the screen, distorted and blurry.

A pang of guilt stung her as she saw how tried he looked. Captain Typhoon Snivel had visibly been through Tartarus. His uniform was torn in several places, revealing deep cuts in his maroon fur, sometimes sinking in its flesh. Half dried blood had dripped from a cut on his face and his bionic legs were gone, replaced by the golden aura of his magic. Sat tiredly on his throne, he looked as if he had to carry the ship on his back. But his augmented eyes were as sharp as ever. They seemed to pierce even the static to reach her soul. Despite the situation, he was still the proud, calm stallion that had led the Dusk of Hope and three vessels before toward victories against impossible odds. It made her proud. Then guilty again.

"Hello, sir..."

Typhoon Snivel had not expected any transmission. He had imagined his death lonely, accompanied by the soft buzz of the servitors around him. As dutiful as they were, their conversation skills were pretty lacking. It took him a second to react to the attempt of communication. A few more to remember that he had no operator to take it for him. A few more again for his magic to do the unusual job. The screen shimmered to life. Several moment passed before the connection was established. A familiar face appeared on the screen. The unicorn had wondered who would have contacted him. All things considered, seeing his operator appear on the screen didn't surprise him much. It was oddly fitting that it would be her.

"Hello, operator."

For an moment, there was no words. The situation was unfamiliar. There was no order to be given or received. There was in fact, no captain nor operator. Only Typhoon Snivel and Rolling Die. Something in this pleased the unicorn. It was his last moments. There were worst ways to spend them. So Typhoon Snivel watched the mare. For once returning the attentive glare she'd send him when she thought he would not pay attention.

She was rather small, quite the common thing for pegasi spending too much time in artificial gravity. Yet, basic military training had given her enough muscles to make her look stocky rather than sickly. Her short grass-green mane was messy. Maybe messier than usual, which admittedly was not an easy feat. He couldn't discern her coat due to the static, but he was sure her yellow fur was in the same state. Black spots (of promethium he guessed) riddled her uniform and wings, like the spots of the fawns of old Canterlot. She looked ragged and exhausted, but these were expectable. Her apparent resignation was not.

"What owe me the pleasure Rolling Die?" he tried.

The pegasus became stiff at the mention of her name. She looked for accusation in it, in the tone. She was surprised to find none.

"I came... I mean..." she stuttered. It was even harder than in her head.

"I don't mind to wait for you to find your words," he laughed softly, "but I don't think the _Dusk_ will be be very compliant in this."

"Sorry, sir!"

The unicorn laughed softly, causing more confusion to the pegasus. She took a deep breath and finally spoke.

"I came to apologize, sir."

"Apologize?" he exclaimed. "What for?"

"I trapped you here captain..."

Typhoon Snivel stayed silent. Yes. It would make sense the she'd believe that.

"The Imperium will lose a hero today, sir... And I cannot help but feel responsible... sir."

"Yes the Imperium may have lost that today. -" There was a pause. Typhoon watched in the distance a moment, then looked at his Operator. She looked pitiful now. Typhoon Snivel was not soft with his crew. He knew them as his own foals, knew all their strengths and flaws and treated them fairly. But he stayed distant. He never closed the gap for he feared exactly that. That feelings and regrets may one day come in opposition to duty. Maybe there was a lesson to teach before he died. "- Yet I do believe that it didn't lose all his brilliant contributors."

"Sir?"

"There were more than a thousand souls on the Dusk of Hope. More than one hundred still with their brain. Today, your contribution helped saving most of them. Maybe I could have done it without you raising the alarm for an insignificant surge in the shields. Maybe I could have been able to send the abomination in space on my own. But I was not on my own. You made it possible for me to react fast and efficiently. Just as intended."

"Sir, I-"

"And it all came at the cost of a hoofful of lifes."

"But-"

"And I do not even take into account PV-01. Nor the countless souls we may have saved. Thanks to these sacrifices."

Silence again. The message was starting to get to her, but the officer was not quite finished yet.

"Beside. You didn't condemn me. I never intended to leave the ship to begin with."

"What? Why?"

The officer smiled, his face merely choosing a pose rather than expressing a feeling. "Whatever attacked the _Dusk_, the _Crusader_, the _Rettribution_ and the _Barriere_ wanted them still able to function. They wanted them intact save for the warp-engines. I do not know why and I do not care. They wanted it that way, then we don't. Are you following me?"

"I suppose..."

"There was no way we could have destroyed all four ships. One. Maybe two. Then they would have reacted and probably stopped us..."

"So ramming the Crusader is a good way to get rid of half their prize... before they could raise the alert..."

Typhoon Snivel smiled and nodded. "I could have send the _Dusk_ on the _Tartarus_ and leave the ship. Why do you think I didn't?"

Rolling Die thought about it a second. The answer came up pretty quickly.

"Because they could send another creature..."

"See? You get it."

"But-"

"No buts Rolling Die. If I had had more time or knew exactly what we were facing, I could have think of something else, but it was not the case. I did my best. We all did."

She pondered upon it. Then answer. There was more strength behind the words this time. "Yes, sir."

Silence grew thick again. This time however, it carried no shame nor awkwardness. It was the comfortable silent born from a discussion where everything important had been successfully conveyed.

"Sir?" Rolling Die asked, finally breaking the lull. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." The tone was serious, the smirk on his face was not.

"Sorry..."

"You already used your quota of sorries for this discussion Die," he jested. "Come on. Ask away."

"So- I mean... Yes sir," she smiled. "You- you hate coffee right?"

"I taste as if the foulest part of the warp had pissed in water and dubbed it a healthy drink," he stated plainly, enticing a laugh to his operator.

"Then... why do you drink it?" she asked, still giggling. "You always have this flask full of it and you always drink it when things get bad."

"Because..." he started.

Captain Typhoon Snivel pondered upon it. The answer was obvious, but the correct words eluded him. He looked at his screens. The Crusader took all the place in it now. How much time did he have left? Ten minutes? Half an hour? Funny how his own death looked so distant despite its imminence. Typhoon looked back at his Operator. The silence stayed unbroken for several seconds. Then the captain talked, his voice as calm and resolute as ever.

"Because, it's a small price to pay for the Imperium."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

_"We commend our souls to the Emperor. Let the story of our sacrifice burn across history like a shooting star."_

\- Ultramares Veteran Sergeant Purging Light

_"One cannot consider the fate of a single pony, nor ten, nor a thousand. Billions will live or die by our actions here, and we have not the luxury to count the cost."_

\- Inquisitor Kryptmare


	10. Interlude 03 - No more Hope II

**PV-01 system**

**Luna's Bats battle barge ****_Somnum Extereri_**

The _Somnum Extereri_ invaded Ponyville sensors with the nonchalence of a predator approaching a herd of preys. Alarms came to live inside the remaining Dusk Squadron's ships as well as on the surface several places as the battle barge signature flooded the sensors with threat warnings. In orbit, six captains shivered at the sight of the bulky battle barge. On the surface, messages were frentically relayed to assess the status of the ship and its allegiance. Everypony sensed the coming of an all too recurrent storm.

This vessel was carrying the promise of incoming war.

From her throne, Moon Terror was watching the planet and its defence with fascination. Such a small world. With so many things at stakes. Like yet another offence to the Warmistress legacy, the key to her liberation and imprisonment lied not in a heavily fortified system... but in a backwater farm planet guarded by a dozen of ships and a hoofful of gardsponies. Her pragmatism was fighting her pride in a battle of conflicting feelings. A truce was quickly decided : crushing this planet would be enough to satisfy both. The Sorcerer was smiling smugly at her side, annoyingly taking the place she'd only allow to her second in command.

"Your plan has worked so far, Sorcerer," she started, not even looking at him. "At the cost of two squads. I hope, for you, that your information are correct."

"They are, Champion," he smirked. Her annoyance at the title never ceased to amuse him.

"Such certitude..."

"I made sure never to disappoint, Champion. And you"- he insisted on the last word -"made it clear that my very life depended on it. This display of power is no longer necessary, I assure you. Our goals are the same."

"So you say."

"So I say, and so I intent to prove. -" The Sorcerer sensed the defiance in the Spacemare but didn't take offence. She would be a fool to trust him, just as he would be a fool to overestimate his status on board. His glare went from the Spacemare to the holoscreen showing the system. There was an amazing amount of information displayed. For an instant the stallion marvelled at the the warmare, able to follow the conversation and the endless stream at the same time. Soon his attention drifted to four lonely vessels out of their formations. Nothing particular marked them out of the ordinary. But the Sorcerer could feel the flow of the Immaterium pushing them toward their destination. The Convergence drew closer by the second. "- There are few constants in this universe but the return of the Warmistress suffers no doubts," he mused.

"We will see."

"Yes we will. It is just a matter of time."

Moon Terror looked at the spectacle unfolding before her. She didn't understand the underlying current of fate, or whatever the Sorcerer called them, driving them, but she had to acknowledge the fact that things were eerily similar to his predictions. Soon the four ships would be in position. Just like he said. His prophecies had been extremely accurate so far. More than most psyker she had ever encountered. This, was the reason she valued him enough to tolerate his impudence. His words carried truth, not hazy possibilities blurred with interpretations.

"When will the rest of the fleet arrive?" she asked out of the blue.

"This, I cannot say..." admitted the sorcerer. A good point for him in the eye of the Spacemare. "The Convergence will staturate the Empyrean with energy. My vision passing this point is blurry."

"Is that so?" she teased.

An exasperate almost left the psyker's muzzle. He caught it in time. He was not that confident in the Spacemare trust yet. "Imagine looking at the sun and trying to grasp the shape of the clouds around it, or the stars behind it," he explained patiently. "All you can see is the sun itself. Looking past it is a task I am not capable of doing. I'm but an humble initiate of the matters of the warp," he jested with a mock bow. "I can barely predict the galactic event of the millennium. Sorry to disappoint."

To his surprise, she smiled. It was not much, but the corner of her mouth were definitely higher than usual.

"Can you at least tell me if there will be there before the Imperium reinforcement?" she asked earnestly.

"I can lie to you, if that is what you wish."

"It was worth a shot, I guess." she said, her tone returning to her formal neutral indifference.

Both equines turned toward the screen. Watching the spacial ballet before them. Three ships drifted lazily in space, in appearance devoid of goal, while a fourth one was hurling itself on of them. The impact was imminent. Seconds passed. And the ship collided. The two ships disappeared from the screen. A word of Moon Terror switched the tactical view for a normal one. The explosion was barely visible in the distance. A star among others in the dark sky. It got bigger. Soon it rivalled with the pale red orb in the distance and it still got bigger. A white fiery wound in the fabric of space. And the Warp bled through it.

The Sorcerer smiled. "It has begun."

**~o~**

Space rippled as energy poured through and from the Warp. Unspace bled, deversing its unnatural colours on the black canvas.

The closest ship to the impact, an almost empty evacuation vessel did suffer no ill effect. The ship disappeared, only to reappear seconds later in the orbit of a small, wild planet. The other evacuation ships in the system were not so lucky. Out of fifty, nine disappeared in the warp, never to be seen again. Two aged in a matter of seconds, centuries taking hold of them, leaving only drifting wrecks filled with ghostly whispers. Thirty-three suffered massive dysfunctions from their crews as well as the electronics inside. The unlucky one erred in space, never to be rescued. Others saw their crew poisoned or asphyxiated by failing ventilation system. The lucky ones simply got destroyed by malfunctions, preserving the ponies inside from a slow and painful death. _Evacuation vessels 04_, _09_, _19_, _03_, _15_, _18_ and _44_ did not suffer any anomaly, but the crew inside became the playthings of the inhabitant of the Immaterium. None survived.

The Dusk Squadron's frigates felt the effect of the warp too. Yet most of them ignored it, trying to cope with the very tangible threat that the Spacemare battle barge represented. Only one captain had the hindsight to raise the Gellar field. Unfortunately, several technical problems and instability in space prevented him from communicating the information. On the verge of battle, each of the imperial vessels would fight alone. And crippled.

On the surface of PV-01, the effects of the breach were milder, yet, undeniable. As the stars in the sky disappeared, swallowed by the warp, a few ponies died of terror, seeing things better left unseen by mortal eyes. Others fell to madness, taunted by voices and sights their mind could not comprehend. Some of them ended their life. Other began to kill, in a misguided attempt of mercy. Those strong enough to resist the call of the Warp became taunted by vision of a future yet to come. Blessed were those who did hear the call of daemonkind.

Yet another kind of madness was coming to their world. This kind armed with zeal and heavy weapons and defended by power armours and fanaticism. It came from vessels, drop pods and infiltrated cultists.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

_"Let the Galaxy burn."_

\- The Warmistress


	11. Chapter 07 - Untrustworthy

**PV-01  
****Communication array plazza**

To Twilight's surprise, going back to her quarter had been fast and easy. The emergency run from there to the urban battlefields, not so much. Twilight had, once again, to delay her long due meeting with scrolls (and tomes (and dataslates)) to keep up with the planet's... interferences.

_If I had any doubt, now I know. This, is punishment._

Lasgun shots flew around her. She ignored them. Absent-mindedly, she sent her staff above her head. The weapon flew with a high pitch note which ended with the wet sound of flesh perforated. A scream pierced the night briefly, quickly replaced by war cries and detonations. The soldiers gathered around her did their best to secure the perimeter, but the area faced severe "disruptions".

Messages, coming from the different skirmish fronts and command hubs, were erupting without pause in her vox, completed by the occasional Spike's input and the endless data stream of her retinal display. Each second added new information or modified the importance or content of previous data. Still, the Equustode filtered and analysed them, with the ease born of experience and mental conditioning.

Two cultist incursions in the north of town; small pockets of civil resistance in the south, waiting for military support; four instances of betrayal among the military officers, crippling several key points of the defence, including Cloudsdale orbital cannon; enemy vessels were about to enter the atmosphere, drop pods would likely follow; the Dusk Squadron was about to engage, with little to no chance of victory; enemy group spotted fifty-seven metres direction south-south-west: another group of traitors spotted north of the town...

She let the flow pass through her. Her attention was entirely focused on one fact. The communication array was still operational. She had to access it before the enemy sabotage it too. She had to warn the...

"Equustode?"

The voice startled her. She had not sensed Pinkamena coming next to her.

"Yes?"

"The way's open," she said, her voice lacking her natural enthusiasm. "Do I really have to wait here?"

"Yes. Make sure the area is clear. Do not let anyone inside."

"What about the others?"

Twilight only thought about it for a second. "I'll contact them later."

Had she paid attention, she would have seen reluctance in the warmare's body language. But Twilight wasn't paying attention. She barely registered Pinkie's salute as she passed her. She barely noticed the communication runes bipping. This planet, this seemingly unsignificant planet was under attack by renegades, cultists and traitors while the stars above were swallowed by a rift in space. This was not a coincidence. This could not be. The Warmistress was coming back here and now and she needed to alert the Throne as soon a possible.

**~o~**

A sentiment of perplexity was plaguing Rarity's mind. And this was affecting her work, adding lag and imperfection that she needed to correct as she went. Yet, she let the thought process go its way. Inspiration and illumination always came to her while she worked, and today, despite the unique urgency of the situation, was no exception. She was on the verge of a breakthrough and one minute and twenty-seven seconds delay out of several hours of works were well within the authorised margin of error. All in all, an acceptable trade-off.

So Rarity pondered, while her artificial limbs soothed the machine spirit of a shield generator. Data streamed in her head, drawing a mental map of the situation which ultimately left her frustrated and unsatisfied. Something was not quite not right with this assault. The enemy cruelly lacked cohesion, or objectives, yet, they had efficiently disabled several key parts of the defence, most of them pivotal to prevent orbital assault and planetary invasion. This attack was irrational and inelegant, and, in any other situation Rarity would have let it at that, putting it on the chaotic nature of the cultists. But this did not fit with the presence of the Spacemares in orbit nor the stellar event above. There was something. Something ominous. _Something bad_. There was a missing piece somewhere and she had a hunch, that some details she had overlooked were the key to understand it.

_The details. Everything resides in the details._

A flurry of binary code signalled her that her servitors were done with their part of the maintenance. The power station would be working in a matter of minutes. By impulse more than need, Rarity checked the next sites in need of her touch.

This made the metaphorical cogs in her mind click.

"Ponyssiah..."

The word slipped through her muzzle with the strength of a curse. Pieces fell into place. Questions she had not even thought about arose, leading to more elements of answer. Frantically, she checked the records of the attacks and sabotages and the maintenance records of the previous years.

The missing piece revealed its ugly frame as Rarity dug deeper and deeper into it. Soon she arrived to the end of the information available to her, but she kept looking, bipping and buzzing demands... For a few seconds, information filled the room in the form of vocalised machine language. Then, it stopped, almost as soon as it started. When it ended, Rarity had the answers she so dearly wished. And she did not like them.

_Who would make such a contraption? Why?_

Rarity didn't enquire further. Time was of the essence.

**~o~**

"Applejack," Rarity had asked, "I need you to find Fluttershy and bring her to the rendez-vous point as soon as possible."

"How hard can it be to find a giant, armored, rampaging, sarcophagus?" Applejack had though at that moment.

As she ran into the street, Applejack found herself reevaluating her statement. Following Fluttershy's trail had been either predictably easy or unfuriatingly frustrating. Fluttershy would go straight toward a group of enemies crush them and then go to the next... It would, and should, have been easy... save for her power jumps above the crumbled walls of the town. Applejack was forced to guess her general direction and follow it, often having to get back on her tracks.

The terrain was also a problem. In top of slowing her, the maze of walls and the narrow, turning, streets made her armament marginally suited to the situation, forcing her to use close combat weaponry. Her combat knife and her power hooves were soaked with the blood of the heretics she'd encountered, while her heavy bolter and munition belt hung tightly on her back, unused.

"T'is Timberwolf hunt all over again..."

The trail was becoming warmer however. Quite literally sometimes, when the prometheum of Fluttershy's flame-thrower lived its last instants. She could sometimes hear the heavy noise of hydraulics reverberating in the streets. Soon she would get a visual too. Hopefully things would get simpler then...

**~o~**

The orbital defences were down. Despite their best efforts, they could not have stopped the endless waves of foes that had submerged them. The rest had been a matter of time. Now the fight was on the streets... For a time she'd try to repel them, but they were everywhere.

Where were her sisters in battle? They had to be close... They needed to regroup and organise. Where were her sisters? They were probably as busy fighting as she was. She looked at the crushed foes at her hooves. She didn't like to fight alone. Spacemares should not stay alone. Where were her sisters?

"Fluttershy?"

"Sister!" she called, without facing the newcomer. "Where are the others? The griffons are coming. We need to regroup."

There was no answer.

"Sister?"

Fluttershy slowly turned toward the voice. Her body was heavy and distant as she did so. She felt clunky and big for some reasons, but far from deprived of power from it. Quite the contrary in fact... It was an odd dichotomy for her. To feel strong and powerless at the same time. Yet, she turned. Her sister was waiting expectantly behind her. Who was she? She did not recognised her... Fluttershy tried to wipe the sweat and blood from her face. Her hoof hit her head with a heavy "clung".

Confusion.

"Fluttershy..." said the Spacemare with hints of concern.

That voice... she knew it. She could almost remember her name.

"Come back, Fluttershy..." the voice asked. "We need you."

Fluttershy watched her intensely. For a moment, she wondered why her sister would wear the Timberwolf colours and armoury. She tried to extend her hoof to reach her... then hit the glass of her amniotic chamber.

Reality struck her like nutrient fluids on a dying corpse.

"Applejack," she uttered, breaking free of her reverie.

"You okay, Sugarcube?"

The vox buzzed a moment, but no words came out. Applejack said nothing.

"I am," Fluttershy finally answered.

"We need your help."

"What... do you need me for?" the dreadnought asked.

"We need to go to the Communication Tower, ASAP. Rarity think something's happening there."

Applejack looked around her with an annoyed expression. Fluttershy had lead her quite far from the rendez-vous point. Reaching it quickly by conventional roads would be a bore. Fluttershy saw the frustration in her sister.

"I know a shortcut," she said softly. "Follow me. If you don't mind."

"Lead the way Sugarcube." Applejack answered with a smile.

The dreadnought slowly shifted toward the communication array, facing the walls of a building.

"Stay close."

Fluttershy braced herself; her massive servos and mechanisms ground into position, then locked. Applejack took place behind the immobile hulk of adamantium, ready for what was coming next.

My sisters count on me...

Fluttershy started moving. The stone of the pavement exploded under the pressure, sending debris flying all around. Her speed almost took Applejack by surprise, not so much because of the dreadnought actual speed, but because it had come with no transition. The behemoth had not immobile, then, at one undetermined point in time, was charging forward.

The building faced the charge with the resistance of dense air. The hulking body tore through it without even slowing. No. It was gaining speed, reaching a pace close to that of a running Spacemare, not slowed not phased by it in the slightest. The second wall had the same lack of effect.

And so did all those between their position and their target.

**~o~**

Rainbow Dash fell like a rock. The noise of the engines on her back suddenly replaced by the howling wind. Despite the height, she could still see her objective, almost a mile below her. She kept falling, faster and faster, her superequine body facing the increasing wind pressure with with ease. For such a little fall, her armour wasn't even needed to compensate, so she shut the system up so she could enjoy the experience to the fullest.

She was a few hundred metres above her target now. She was close enough to hear the raging noise of the battlefield, the screams of the fighters, the percussions of the guns, the deep baritone of the explosions, the rumble the vehicles, the whistling counterpoint of the lasfire... In this fleeting moment, war was a symphony played by instruments made to kill. Gravity kept her in its grip. She soon reached her terminal velocity. Her wings, folded on her back, only gave the slightest, subtlest, touches to keep her on track. The battlefield under her become narrower and narrower as she closed to her destination. She could distinctly see the traitors group closing in to the guards, ready to ambush them. None seemed to have noticed her. Death was silently coming to them, in the form of a falling blue and black meteor of bio-engineered flesh and retribution wrapped into deadly machinery and armour. Rainbow Dash chose her victim. A bulging earth pony wearing chaos signs on their fur. Their body language and the attitude of the other cultists pointed them as the leader of this pack. Rainbow Dash was less than one hundred metres above when one of the ponies noticed her. Incredulity, shock, and terror flashed into their eyes as they realised their incoming death. In the less than two seconds it took the Spacemare to reach them, Rainbow Dash pivoted and reactivated her jetpack, just long enough to make the landing bearable by her armoured body. The brutal deceleration hit her, sending even more adrenaline and stimulant into her blood stream.

_Aw yeah!_

The pegasus impacted the stallion, utterly pulverising him. The resulting shock wave and the flames from the engines sent everypony flying around.

It would have taken a long time to shook off the confusion created by the light, noise and fumes of the engine. Even more so, to get passed the physical trauma of having being sent violently into a collision course with the ground or a wall. For a few of them, there was the she additional burden of having seen their leader being crushed to a bloody pulp by a falling killing machine. Unfortunately for them, Rainbow Dash was not a very patient nor a forgiving pony. They were promptly executed.

"Purge all traitors," she muttered.

"According to my last estimates," the voice of Rarity announced on her now unmuted vox, "you are 0.00595901117% closer to your goal. Do you want me to calculate the time needed to accomplish this? And the number of times I will have to repair your aparatus from your reckless and non conform use of it?"

"No thanks, Rarity," she grumbled back.

The unicorn had often complained about how often Rainbow Dash would have to come back for maintenance and how much stress she was putting on her "apathingy". Even in the middle of a war she would complain about this...

_Gee, maybe we should let Rarity loose among the enemy and let her sermon them to death._

She looked around her. The platoon of soldiers kept going. One of them recognised her and made a quick salute. She returned it.

"What I'd want is our defense at full power so we can wipe them out. How's it going?"

"Good." Rarity answered. "However," she continued, "I have bad news."

"How bad?"

"Bad enough for me to ask you to ignore safety protocols."

"Okay, that's pretty serious," she fought with concern. "What do I do?" she asked.

"I want you to go to these coordinates as fast as possible."

The set of digit prompted on her retinal display. The position indicated was far. Very far.

"Huh... That's at the other side of the town." pointed the rainbow maned Spacemare.

"All the more reason for you, to go there as fast as possible," Rarity replied. "I'll brief you as soon as possible. Now please go."

"Okay, I'm going."

The vox crackled and shut down, leaving Rainbow once again alone with the cacophony of the battlefield.

"What the heck is happening?" she muttered as she took off.

**~o~**

Pinkie Pie was bored.

Despite her best effort to find something to enjoy about the situation, she was still, deeply, bored. She'd try to play hide and kill with her foes, but it had rapidly proven pointless. The traitors were just bad at it. They'd constantly try to kill her instead of hiding, ruining all the fun of the chase. Now all the enemies in the area were dead or too far away for her to catch them without leaving her post. Pinkie Pie comforted herself by saying that it was that many heretics and traitors that the planet wouldn't have to worry about. But she was still bored. The ponies around her were rather content of their situation, much to her dismay.

"Well duh! Obviously guardsponies would be glad to guard something," she rambled to herself. "I'm not made for this! I'm so bored! Guarding a place is boring!"

"Why, by the Empress, would YOU do something like that?" ask the dumbfounded voice of Rarity in her vox.

"I know right?" the pink warmare answered, utterly unphased by Rarity's unannounced interruption. "I mean why would I, Pinkamena Diane Pie, expert in sabotage and harassment guard some place without moving? But it was an order, Rarity... A direct order even! I can't go and disobey a direct order because I don't like it... except if there's obviously something wrong with it. In that case, I guess I would have to disobey, because the Empress goes first."

"Hum, darling?"

"But then again, maybe they'd know something I don't. Like that Equustode. I'm pretty sure she's hiding something from us, but I don't know what it is, or else she wouldn't be hiding it from me, she would just think she would be hiding things from me, while in fact I would know it all, and then I would know if I should obey or not. Like when you know there's an ambush and you counter it by showing up ultra prepared."

"Speaking of ambush..."

"So that's why I'm guarding the communication tower. Because I don't know if the Equustode is hiding a good secret, like the activation code of the Empress armoury, or if she's hiding a bad secret, like she could totally be a spy. Not that I think she's a spy. Or maybe SHE IS a spy. A pretty good one."

"Are you finished?" calmly asked the Techmare.

"I am," Pinkie Pie answered, nodding her head heavily.

"Pinkie, you're at the central communication array is that right?"

"Yepper."

"Are you with the Equustode?" Rarity asked, increasingly worried.

"She went inside to deliver an important message. Or so she told me."

"How long has she been inside?" the techmare enquired.

"Twenty-three minutes," she answered instantly. "Why?"

"Oh Ponyssiah... Pinkie, it's a trap. You have to warn her! Now!"

"But my orders..."

"Are not going to be very relevant is she dies anyway, darling."

"You mean I can move from my spot and actually do something?"

"Absolutely."

"Rarity?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

**~o~**

**PV-01  
****Communication tower**

Bolters' barks echoed into the room. The thick cover shook. Spike waited for the "clics" of bolters magazines being ejected to fire with his own weapon. He wouldn't get his head out of cover, firing blindly at the assailants. Screams of pain rewarded the effort. Two hits. Not bad.

"You know Twilight, this situation seems to happen a lot since we've been here." Spike deadpaned.

Another group of cultists tried to reach them. Three precise shots from Spike's gun made them rethink their plan. A golden blade definitely put an end to it.

"Not now Spike," Twilight answered.

The bolters barked again. The fortune barricade shook. Pieces of rockcrete and metal rattled on the floor.

"I'm just saying maybe there's something we're doing wrong."

The fire concentrated on the weak point. It was just a question of time before the cover became as effective as a sheet of paper.

"Not. Now. Spike."

Spike didn't insist any further. Whether it was because he was busy firing at their assailants or because of the order didn't matter to Twilight. She needed to think and had not a lot of time to do so. They needed an way to complete their mission and get out of here. There were at least thirty-seven ponies, thirty-two after the last attack. But they were a minor threat, an inconvenience at best. The true problem was the squad of Spacemares. Twilight had identified them quite easily. The night blue armours, adorned with bat wings above a full moon, designed them as members of the Luna's Bat. She had expected the Night Legion but, in hindsight, their identity should not have been a surprise.

This invasion force had appeared out of nowhere once they had tried to send their message. Twilight doubted they were discret enough to have sneaked up on her. There was clearly magic at play or something similar.

Another bolter shot made the crumbling wall shatter a little more. Time was fleeing.

Twilight took a deep, calming, breath.

_First. Assessing the situation._

Getting out of cover was too risky right now. But she wouldn't need it. Her weapon was more than enough. A thought wiped the blood out of the blade of her staff, making the blade as shiny as the golden metal it was made of. The blade flashed quickly above the baricade. Too fast, even for the surequine reflexes of the Spacemares in the distance. Twilight's brain reconstructed the scene instantly from the fragments of reflection. The enemy formed an arc, slowly closing on their position. The non augmented ponies were in the front, serving as flesh shield to already armoured warmares. They were patient, they took their time. Whoever their leader may be, she had gave them good instructions. None of them seemed to be unicorn or psychicly active, however, which explained why their approach was so blunt and unsurprising. This gave Twilight an advantage. A slight one.

_Second. Devise a plan of action._

Twilight did her best with the little time she had. She needed to get out of cover, before it became an unescapable trap. There were three exits. One was not only too far, but behind the enemy. The second, on her right was the closest, but totally out of sight. The perfect set-up for yet another trap. The last, on the left, was visible and accessible, but it was a twenty metre run completely exposed. They'd need a distraction to reach it.

_Third. Act._

"Spike. When you see the opportunity, run toward the exit on the left. Find another way to send a message to the Empress."

There was the slightest hesitation in Spike's voice. "Sure, but I don't think those ponies will agree to let me that kind of opportunity."

"I'll create it for you. Be ready."

The wall shook again. It would not last another round of bolter fusillade. It was already fortunate it didn't collapse at the first few shots. But she still didn't move. She waited. Next to her, Spike readied himself for what was to come. The reloading noise was heard once again.

And then, Twilight struck.

All of them were wary of an attack of course, they'd been fool not to. The reason why they didn't react efficiently was simple. They were not good enough. Too unimaginative, too slow... Twilight's attack came from the right side, where they would hinder each other. The Spacemare she teleported next to was reloading. She reacted instantly, dropping her gun for her chain blade, as lavender light flashed at her side. It only took her an instant to do so. An single, fleeting instant.

A golden blade pierced her hearts before she could even activate her weapon. Her body tried futilely to fight the mortal wound as the Spacemare tried to raise her blade. Twilight fixed the mare in the eye, through the optics of her night blue, skull-like helmet. The blade sliced its way out. Blood bubbled out of her mouth grill as her body went limp. Twilight's magical grip extended, covering not only her blade, but the entirety of the body of her foe. With a thought, she placed it between her and the incoming bolter fire. Explosive rounds came crashing upon the renegade body, sending chunks of ceramite, flesh and bone flying. Twilight's gritted her teeth at the impact and charged. Her horn surged again gaining control of her victim's bolter and firing blindly. The shot made a few marks in the crowd of unaugmented ponies. Not enough, but it definitely drew all the attention toward her.

The Luna's Bat squadron reacted instantly, the group moving on its own to face the threat, like a finely tuned machinery. The closest Spacemare charged, while her sisters pined the Equustode behind the carcass. The Spacemare collided with the obstacle with enough force to stop a tank, sending it flying into the air. In a fluid motion the Spacemare shot a quick burst of bolter shots. The projectiles flew across the room and hit a wall. Her foe was gone. There was a flash behind her. Two ponies died before she turned toward the Equustode. Their gaze met. The elusive unicorn was gone before she could raise her weapon again. Cold sweat ran through the Bat's fur.

Twilight hit and ran, teleporting in and out of the fight, delivering only one blow before flashing out. Soon a dozen ponies and three of their augmented counterparts laid dead on the ground. Almost all of them showed several cut on their armour or flesh. Every one in the room waited anxiously the next flash, trying to catch the golden warmare, without any hint of success. Twilight, on the other side, was untouchable and untouched. The unicorn was a an ethereal blade in the midst of the enemy. She was also running on fumes. Teleportation was akin to drag her own body with her magic while in apnea. Constantly fighting while doing so was pushing even her physiology to its limits. Still she had no other options available. She had to buy Spike as much time as possible. The irony of the situation was definitely not lost on her.

_My endurance is lacking. I need to train more._

She flashed again, aiming at one of the already injured Bat. She aimed at her leg, in a vicious feint. The Spacemare didn't bite and deflected the blow. Weapons aimed at Twilight once again, but she was already gone. Her attacks were less and less effective. She needed to break the pace. Twilight steeled herself as more magic surged into the horn. Faster than ever before, she flashed all around the room, in a dizzying display. A few ponies tried to catch her only wasting more bullet in the air. Then, suddenly, the mare disappeared. There was a pause. All looked around, searching for the foe that had been harassing them so far... But the Equustode was nowhere to be found...

_I don't see Spike anymore. Good. Time to attack._

A warning scream resonated in the room. One of the cultist pointed in the air. Eight heavy gun went up, searching. Once again, they were too slow. Atop of her staff, blade pointed toward the ground, Twilight fell, right on her target. Magic pulled her body even faster toward the ground, compensating for the lack of speed. There was a very satisfying "crack", as the blade pierced the plate. The Spacemare body immediately stopped moving, her spine severed by the impact. Twilight smiled. She was now in the middle of the fray, with almost no Spacemare around her. Just as intended. Her horn lit up again. But this time, there was no flash of light. Instead, three bolter rose from the ground. To her great satisfaction she heard a deep voice utter two delightful words.

"Oh shit..."

The bolters fired in perfect harmony. The shot were loosely aimed, but there was no need to aim in this configuration. The explosive rounds carved grossly into the colony of traitors. The squad took cover while firing at her, mostly hitting their followers. Twilight started to run, getting in the thick of the crowd, her blade barely moved, due the strain of using so many weapons at once, but it was enough to get rid of any cultist daring enough to get close.

_I really need to train more..._

Another Spacemare, and a dozen more ponies, laid dead or dying when the ammunition count of the last bolter finally reached zero.

Magic gathered in her horn again, the complex, yet familiar, patterns of the teleportation spell burning into her mind, shortening the distance between her and her target. She felt her body losing consistence while she was getting dragged toward her destination... then a shock on her flank grounded her into the world. The spell disappeared and the magic fizzled into the air, lost and useless.

Twilight reacted immediately. Her hind hoof struck the stallion right in the barrel, sending him flying. Another pony tried to come at her, a blunt weapon in his mouth. A lasgun came to life, enveloped in purple magic. A few well aimed shots later, he laid dead on the ground. Twilight tried to teleport again, but another blow disturbed her concentration. Now caught in the middle of the fray, Twilight struggled to use her long weapon and gather enough time to get out. She got rid of the ponies, and tried again, only to be pinned into place by a bolter shell. The projectile detonated, cracking her armour on the side. The shock hit her. Hard. Fortunately for her the weapon stayed mute. Empty magazine. She tried to get to cover, but three Spacemares circled her, pressuring her. In a normal situation, the fight would have been perfectly acceptable for Twilight. Hard, but acceptable nonetheless. But she was tired and outnumbered. This fight, she had no guarantee to win.

Twilight needed time and space and her foes were determined not to let her get any of those. She needed something, anything, to shift the balance of the fight long enough to give her an opportunity.

And she got just that.

There were five detonations.

The first two were short and soft, followed by coughs and surprised screams. Not wearing her helmet, she sensed the aggressive smell of tear gas filling the air. Her superior organs filtered it out before it could affect her.

The following explosions were more conventional. Hard and loud. Those were followed by a different kind screams, filled with pain.

Twilight got the second she needed. With a roar, she charged forward, into the thick of the cloud. There she started to gather her magic again. As she selected a destination, a voice echoed in her vox.

"Up!" the voice demanded.

Twilight train of thought stopped. The voice resonated loud and clear in her mind. This time the magic flew without an hitch. Twilight found herself airborne once again. Under her, the traitors and cultists were struggling to keep their cohesion inside the grey cloud of smoke. Still, Twilight could feel several guns of all sort and size pointed in her general direction. She braced for impact.

It came in an unexpected fashion. Rainbow-propelled and fast.

"Gotcha!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Twilight need not see her face to know she was grinning.

Both mare got on the ground swiftly. Rainbow immediately flew back into the fray, but Twilight took a second to analyse the situation. Between now and the moment the grenades detonated, the situation had been entirely reversed. Disoriented by the smokes, the ponies now deterred their mistresses, fumbling and coughing. The Spacemares should have fared way better but something seemed to interfere with their retinal displays and sensors, forcing them to rely solely on hearing. But this was only the tip of the iceberg. Somehow, without being heard or seen, a Dreadnought and a devastator Spacemare had join the fray.

"How?...", Twilight thought aloud.

"Well duh!" said a familiar voice beside her. "I'm the best ambush planer on this planet!" A shot punctuated her declaration.

"But how?"

"Easy Peasy! One smoke grenade, one PPG, that's for Pinkie Pie Glitter by the way, grenade, three frak grenades, one remote detonator, and a little game of Red Light, Green Light not to draw any attention!" she quickly enumerate while aiming for another shot. "Oh! And my cloaking device helps a lot too!" she said pointing her cloak.

The unicorn was at loss for words. Pinkie shot and another pony hit the ground.

"Okaydokay-quustode! Let's clean this place up!"

Twilight slowly nodded and got to that.

* * *

**PV-01 orbit  
****Luna's Bats battle barge, Somnum Extereri**

Night Terror watched the scene with apparent detachment.

The glowing rift into space showed her several facets of the fight at the same time. Like a broken mirror would show several sightly different reflections. It had started with ten different angles. Ten shards of reality embedded in one. One for each of the Spacemares forming the Sleepless squad. Now, only seven remained and one of them was getting dimmer by the second.

The squad was retreating. Calmly. Night Terror ought to be proud. They had always been a good group. Crimson had always been a reliable Sergeant. She already knew replacing her would be a difficult task.

If only she could have sent reinforcement... But those damn loyalist had shut the signal. The warmare mentally shove the thought aside. There was nothing to do about it now. Now she needed to get ready for the Warmistress return.

"Is there any way to listen to what is said?" the Spacemare asked, her gaze still fixated on the fight.

"The short answer is no," the psyker smugly answered.

The Spacemare didn't react. He had somehow hoped to raise her curiosity but once again, his "Champion" didn't rose to the bait. He brushed aside his frustration.

"I won't bore you with the details, Champion," he added, "but hearing could be hazardous."

"Limitations to your powers, Sorcerer?" she asked calmly.

The psyker smirked. "I am afraid so. The Resurgence prove to be quite the hindrance to my powers..." He would not answer to her banter. "Though... there is more preoccupying than that isn't it?"

"An Equustode," she nodded reluctantly.

"It is proof that the Elements are nearby."

Another Bat died. Only five remained.

"Are you asking me, Sorcerer?" she inquired, small hints of anger oozing in her words.

"I already told you the Elements null my powers. If the oracles are true, this is how they work and why they exist in the first place. If I could find them that way, the psychic pets of the Night Legion could have done so too."

Another Spacemare died. Night Terror gritted her teeth. Sensing her discomfort, the Sorcerer kept talking, trying to push what he perceived as an advantage.

"Still... an Equustode. Alone it would already have been a threat to your mares but now..."

"I do not want to discuss it, Sorcerer."

The Sorcerer felt it. Licks of angers poisoning the air, like the remains of a perfume in an empty room. It was faint, but for the Spacemare's control to slip enough to let him perceive it... it was quite something. The psyker enjoyed the feeling, almost feeding out of it. He hardly contained his grin. He really wanted to see the facade slip. He waited. Soon another Spacemare died, charred into nothingness. Casually he continued.

"I was told once that failure is never an option. I wonder how..."

The words died in his throat, crushed by an oversized hoof. He haven't even seen her move... even with his powers, he had not even SENSED her move! A moment she was next to him, the next he was hanging at the end of her hoof. He instinctively reached for the limb, struggling, scratching. Suddenly remembering that his life was also in the balance.

"Cha... champ..."

The words eluded him. Air eluded him. The Spacemare watched him squirm at the end of her hoof with complete and utter lack of passion. In that instant, the Sorcerer wondered if he had not overestimated his importance.

Another Spacemare died. Only one remained. Slowly, Night Terror flexed her arm, bringing the stallion's face a few inches from hers.

"Do not, ever, try to bait me into soiling my mares with your taint," she hissed. "Never again."

As suddenly as he had left the ground, the Sorcerer found himself back on it. He whizzed and coughed. Night Terror didn't even spare another glance at him. She watched as the last warmare died, a golden blade slicing through armour and flesh. The vision blurred and disappeared at this point, the source of its power now extinguished. She stared a few seconds into the empty space then left, leaving the Sorcerer panting weakly on the ground.

* * *

The fight ended quickly. Without the advantage of number and surprise, the Luna's Bats' quickly found themselves overwhelmed, and with the help of Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, this had been more akin to a meticulous work of extermination than a fair fight.

"You okay Equustode?" Applejack asked Twilight.

"How did you know I needed help?" she answered, while cleaning her blade.

"Well Rarity warned us about a trap and told us to go as fast as possible here," Applejack shrugged. "So here we are."

"You're welcome by the way," added Rainbow Dash, hovering above the battlefield.

"Thank you for your help," Twilight conceded. She looked around and saw no sign of the unicorn. "Where's Rarity by the way?"

"I'm here, darling," the techmare replied, entering the room. Everypony looked at her with different degree of surprise, going from Rainbow Dash's amused smirk to the gleeful smile of Pinkie Pie with a side of Applejack raised eyebrow.

"What a timely arrival..." mocked the cyan pegasus.

"A Lady should know when to make her entrance," she said playing with her mane. "Furthermore, I was not idle while you fought. I made sure the signal was permanently shut off." Rarity spared a glance at the carnage. "And it's not like you needed me after all."

"A signal?" Twilight asked. "What do you mean?"

"Someone has trafficked the array in such a way that it would send a signal serving as a teleportation lock," she explained. "I admit it is my fault for not seeing it sooner, but for my defence, they have been at it for years. They were very careful. It seems they were expecting someone to actually send a message rather than rely on the automated alert."

Twilight pondered on this. So that is how they had managed to take her by surprise. This, however rose even more questions. Like how and why were they expecting her? There was something to dig here. They wanted to stop her from sending the message and were ready to go to great length to do so. Hopefully Spike had had more chance...

"Wait, when did you suppress the signal?"

"Four minutes and twenty-seven seconds ago to be precise," the white unicorn answered.

Around the time Spike left the room so...

"I need to go check on my serf," she excused herself.

"I'm here my Lady," Spike answered from across the room.

She turned toward him, hiding her relief. "Are you okay Spike?"

"Yes my Lady, but we may have a problem."

"Of course we have," she thought bitterly. "What it is?" she asked.

"The message won't get through," he explained. "I guess whatever that thing in the sky is, it messes with our communications. I suppose we should consider ourself lucky it doesn't affect the voxes either."

Twilight thought about it. "Could a power surge help us get us through?"

"I... I suppose it could. Lady Rarity would know better than me but I guess it could work."

All eyes turned toward the techmare. She slowly nodded. "I could work. It would ask a lot of energy to be effective within acceptable margins however. More energy than our generators could deliver in our... current, forgive the pun, situation. I would also like to point out that such a use of the array could severely deteriorate it."

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"She means that we should have to divert the energy from somewhere."

"Okay... from where exactly,?" pressed the pegasus.

"It would take a tremendous amount of power to get through," estimated the Techmare. "We'd have to shut down entire systems. All across town."

"What about the peripheral defences and the outer sector?" proposed Twilight.

All eyes turned toward the Equustode.

"What about the civilians that are still here?" enquired Fluttershy.

"It would take time to evacuate them, but me and my ponies can definitely pull it off." Rainbow Dash said with assurance. "We just need a good flight pattern and..."

"No," Twilight interrupted. "I need you protecting the array. They visibly want to stop me from sending the message. We must warn the Throne and gather information."- She turned toward Applejack. -"I'll also need some ponies to take several documents in the archives. Fifty of them should suffice."- She pointed at Fluttershy. -"I'd like you to escort them too."- She turned toward Rarity. -"I'd also need you to make the preparations for the message as soon as possible."- she designed Pinkie with her hoof -"I'll need to to defend the place once again. I count on you."

Without another word, she turned toward Spike, ready to make her next move. She stopped as she noticed that no pony nor dragon was moving.

"Was there something unclear with my orders?"

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash answered, anger evident in her voice. "What the buck was that?"

"Orders from your superior officer. Will you comply or do I have to demote you?"

Rainbow Dash was obviously about to retort something that was likely not words of compliance. Rarity intervened just in time, dendrites softly took place on the pegasus's shoulder and torso, silently begging her to calm down and stay silent.

"Now, now, darling. Let's not be hasty. You have to admit that your order are a little unconventional are they not?" the white unicorn interceded.

"Unconventional my plot!" the assault mare burst out. "The enemy's at our doors and she want to dig into archives! 'Gather information' and whatnot! that's not how you win a war! That's not how we defend this world!"

"This is how I'll win this one." Twilight stated with authority. "This is a war you win by gathering intel and preparing for...-" She hesitated. Some part of her wished to partake the information she had. The other wanted to keep them for her as long as possible. The latter won. "- what's coming next."

Rainbow was about to retort, but the mechanical whirring of Fluttershy's coffin cut her short. "What about the civilian trapped in the town center and in the mines?" she asked softly, repeating her previous concern.

"They'll have to wait. Fortunately, most of them are not in the main routes to the barracks so the enemy will likely ignore them."

"You know I could totally sneak them out?" the pink earth pony tried. "That would be easy peasy..."

"We'll see if the need arise. Right now, I want you here."

The pink warmare said nothing. Neither did Fluttershy,but the metallic forehoof clapping on the ground and the way the scout was playing with her cloak were explicit signs of their discontent.

"Okay. Maybe I'm too stupid to understand." Rainbow said, taking a deep breath. "What's the big plan? Why are you doing that?" the she asked.

"I'm tired of repeating myself. We need intel on the enemy before we decide further action."

"Does it matter? They're enemies. We destroy them! Simple as that!" Rainbow yelled.

"No, it is not that simple!" Twilight answered in kind, finally losing her temper.

"And why is that Equustode?" said Applejack, finally speaking.

Twilight hesitated again. The now familiar battle raged in her mind, with the same victor. "You have your orders. Now obey."

The golden clad unicorn shut off the discussion by turning back to Spike and preparing for her own battle. The Spacemares hesitantly started to leave. All safe for one. Twilight chose to ignore the hoofstep calmly approaching and kept inspecting her gears, hoping that her indifference would this time prove more effective than useless bickering.

It was not.

"Again, were my orders unclear?" she asked, still turning her back on the Spacemare.

"Very clear. But there's another matter that need to be addressed," answered Applejack.

"I do not think so," the unicorn answered, still turning her back.

A hoof placed itself on her shoulder and forced her to turn. Twilight opened her muzzle to shout, but another hoof hit her in the face before she could.

Silence fell on the room. Twilight instinctively put her hoof on her face, because of the shock rather than pain.

Immediately, Spike rose his gun, aiming at the agressor, waiting for his mistress order. To her surprise, he was not alone. Rainbow stood beside Applejack, her blade aimed at the Timberwolf's throat. The other Spacemares did not move, visibly more conflicted about what had happened than their rainbow-maned sister. Applejack didn't falter. She stared at her with all the disapproval she could muster. She had apparently a lot of it.

"You're untrustworthy Equustode," she simply stated.

No. This was more than a statement. It was a judgement. Twilight stared back at Applejack. There was enough fury in her eyes to set her aflame, but the Spacemare seemed unphased. Their glares crossed, fury meeting disappointment.

"I've seen the previous agent sent to check on us," she continued. "They've been sent on this backwater planet to deal with lone Spacemares, and I doubt they liked it. But guess what? It did not matter. Everyone of them were prized agents of the Allmother, may they be regular ponies, tech adepts, Spacemares or Equustodes. And they acted like it. They were diligent and efficient, they were reliable. They judged every pony on this planet by their work and made the best use of our respective skills. Some were harsh on us... buck they all were! But they were just. Their simple presence made us better. The Empress asked them to check on it and by her Glorious Mane they did! They were examples to follow."

"You, on the other hoof, are a shame to the name of Equustode. You could have deal with the situation a billion ways better. You just had to call Pinkie outside for help as soon as the assaliant teleported in for crying out loud! You could have had Rarity to send the message from the bunker and never get into the trap in the first place! You could have asked me or Rainbow for help to clear the place! You could have coordinated our efforts! YOU COULD HAVE VOXED US FOR GOODNESS SAKE!"- Applejack gaze became harder, colder -"Instead of that you hid from us and put us all in danger. Imagine the damage this squad could have done if we had not stop them! You are nothing like the other agents of the Empress. You are secretive and uncaring. You are untrustworthy."

The jugement fell and with it silence on the room.

"Equustode?" Rainbow Dash asked reluctantly after a couple of seconds.

Twilight had still not say a word. She wanted to say that she did not care for their trust. Dismiss Applejack's berating. But nothing came.

She was right. She was painfully right. From the moment she had been on this planet... no from the moment she had been sent in this mission, she had been full of doubts and utterly unreliable. She trully was untrustworthy, and despite her reassurance that she wouldn't do the same mistake again... she had. Repeatedly.

She truly had been untrustworthy.

"Leave her," she said slowly. "She's right."

Spike and Rainbow Dash obeyed, the former reluctantly, the latter diligently. There was an awkward pause that even Pinkie Pie didn't dare to break. The Equustode breathed slowly and looked at every body, seemingly seeing them for the first time.

"Ignore my previous orders. Prepare plans for the defences how you see fit. I'll meet you in the barrack in thirty minutes for a strategic meeting. Gather any pony relevant to the situation."

The mares nodded.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Applejack?" she called.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for your honesty."

The Spacemare smiled and left the room after her sisters. "Think nothing of it... Equustode."

**~o~**

A few minutes had passed. Equustode and serf were alone once again.

"Are you okay Twilight?"

"She's right. Isn't it?" she mused.

Spike didn't answer.

"Since my first step on this planet, I've made more mistake than in my entire life. That's decades worth of mistakes, all concentrated in less than a planetary day."

"You're too hard on yourself," he tried.

"Am I? Don't tell me 'Pain Keeper' was that hard to spot. Nor were the ponies that attacked us in the streets."

"Well..."

"I could have caught up with Pinkamena ten times, but I didn't because I could not focus on the task at end. I did not even react when she revealed me there was a cultist cell in this planet..." Twilight breathed deeply, her "You know... I thought I somehow failed the Empress and that's my punishment for my errors."

"That's what I mean when I say you're too hard on yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"The Empress trusts you. She doesn't need to punish you because you are one of her most prized soldier. How many ponies can claim to have a personal connexion to her? This assignment has never been about punishing you. It's about sending a mare she trust on a special mission. Her loyal Equustode, Twilight Sparkle. You've not failed her. You were right! The Warmistress is back! And she sent you here exactly for that reason!"

Twilight scoffed. "I made a poor use of that trust didn't I?"

"Yeah maybe," he said with a smile, "but 'trust is never given, trust is earn through your deeds'. Remember?"

'Trust is never given. Trust is earned through your deeds'. No. She had not forget...

* * *

She was considerably younger at that time. She had barely earned her tenth name, but she was proud of her accomplishment nonetheless. She had been summoned to the Throne. The fake one. The one depicted in most of the work of the artist across the Imperium. The one with golden walls and beautiful mosaics showing the glorious heroes battling the forces of evil and protecting Her citizen. No one wanted to acknowledge the existence of the other Throne. The one where countless unicorns and psykers died every passing seconds. But for Twilight, it was an honour. It didn't matter that the Empress before her was merely a psychic manifestation of Her. This, was the closest she would probably ever be to Her. Being in presence of the illusory image had still filled her with pride. She remembered basking a moment in the glory of the almighty ruler of the Imperium, before bowing.

"Twilight Sparkle."

The voice of the Empress echoed in the throne room, not carried by air and sound waves, but by thoughts and sheer power. Twilight's bow had deepened at that moment.

"My Empress," she answered her head still low.

"I was told that you were not a participant of the last blood games."

There had been the slightest hesitation in her voice as she had answered. "I was not."

"May I inquire why?"

"My Empress, I am sorry if I displeased you..."

"You have not yet, my faithful Equustode."

"I just don't understand their goal. To imply that you need to be defended... it doesn't feel right to me."

Twilight could not see it, but In the edge of the real throne room, several ponies died. The almighty Empress did not even reacted to it. Still bowing, Twilight couldn't read the expression on the face of her mistress. But the psychic aura emanating from her was enough. There was the slightest trace of amusement... And a growing amount of disappointment.

"Twilight Sparkle."

"My Empress?" she had fretted.

"Does your serves have to stop checking your gears because of the genius of those who made them? Should our archivists stop their work for other ponies had witnessed the fact they so dutifully write? Should we stop to defend our worlds because ultimately it is our destiny to rule the galaxy?

Twilight had stayed silent. In that moment, she thought how lucky it was for her that her face was bowed. That way, the Empress would not see the shame.

"As powerful as I may be, this Imperium is the work of trillions of ponies. Not merely mine. I merely had a vision and put it into motion, but every last one of my citizen is strive to making it work. I ask of them to do their very best, just as I"- she insisted heavily on the "I" -"do my best to keep it safe. To this endeavour I created warriors to extend, pacify and protect the Imperium... and me. From those exceptional beings I expect even more. Ponies are flawed. You have been engineered, trained and conditionned not to be. I expect better from you."

Twilight was mortified, but the Empress was not finished yet. She breathed deeply. It was not a sigh, nor the simple mark of exasperation that common ponies used. It was the effort of a greater mind trying to reach a smaller one with simple words. This was the moment when she had said it.

"Trust is never given. Trust is earned through your deeds. Trust can only be built upon the guaranty that everyone will do their duty to the best of their capacity."

'Trust is never given. Trust is earned through your deeds'. But could she still earn back the trust of the Spacemares? Could she face the Empress once this whole mess would be over? But that was the whole point wasn't it? There was only one way to make amend for it. Through action.

Twilight felt like some mist had left her mind. Things were now clear and precise. She had a planet to protect against a powerful foe. This was clear. This was her mission. And there was no other option than victory.

"Thank you, Spike."

"Don't mention it" he smiled.

* * *

**PV-01  
****DP-Batallion barracks, strategium**

The strategium was unusually crowded. The room had, after all, been thought with ten or so regular ponies in mind not half a squad worth of Spacemares and a dreadnought. Despite Fluttershy's best efforts to make herself as small as possible, the non-Horsestarte ponies had a hard time to fit in the little place left. Yet regardless of the pressure, both mental and physical, everypony remained calm and composed.

Twilight took a moment to study the people around her. For the time being, they would be her allies, her instruments, her weapons, her data stream and her voice to the several loyalist forces in presence on this planet.

Rainbow Dash had come with a single pony. A rather small earth pony with an ivory-white fur and blazing orange mane. A large scar barred his face, starting shallow above the eye and deep around the corner of his muzzle. Despite having read the name of all the Spacemares' officer, she had a hard time recognising him. Not until Rainbow Dash called him by his name. "Ivory". Colonel Ivory Meteor. No wonder Twilight had not recognised him. Considering his experience as a paratrooper, pilot and assault pony, she had expected a pegasus, not an earth pony. She slowly integer what she could about him and moved on to the next officers.

Applejack had came with more than a dozen ponies, but only two had followed her into the room. The first one was an old mare whose body looked as feeble as her gaze was sharp. Her pale green fur was riddled with marks or rejuvenating surgery and battle scars. She wore her white mane in a tight bun that gave her face an even sterner look. At her side, stood her exact opposite. The stallion was a giant of a pony, almost as big as an Horstarte. He stood at the ready, a few hooves behind the mare. His attitude seemed relaxed at first glance, but his weight was constantly shifting between his hooves, depending on the relative position of Applejack and his companion. His red fur was devoid of any battle mark (and Twilight knew for a fact that it was not due to his lack of presence on the front) and his short, blond, messy, mane flow loosely on his scalp, just short enough not to hinder his vision. Twilight need no efforts to identify Granny Smith and Big Macintosh of the Dulce Pomum battalion. Second in command only to Applejack.

Rarity had come with two servitors, more mechanical being than ponies anymore. It was hard to know what colour their fur or mane had once been. Several bionic augments and implants came out of their bodies, in various places and form, seemingly sensing the room with senses that made little to no sense for an organic. Twilight didn't spent too much time analysing them. They were merely extension of Rarity's will. Even their name were binary codes for the functions the techmare had for them at any given moment. As far as Twilight was concerned, they were "Servitor-One" and "Servitor-Two".

Pinkie Pie had come alone, save for a strange servo-skull made with the remain of some reptilian creature. The Spacemare was sometimes interacting with it in some sort of strange, one-sided conversation. Twilight chose to ignore her.

Fluttershy had come alone. Her file made no mention of any second or any pony that would answer to her command, so Twilight didn't wonder any further.

All and all, counting the servitors and the servo-skull floating above the ground, the meeting counted twelve persons.

"The ponies and Spacemares here gave, and still give their all for this planet. They're trying to protect it. Time to help them do just that... And do my due part."

Twilight cleared her throat, silencing the room instantly. All eyes were instantly on her. And then, she told them everything.


End file.
